Science and Art for Epidemiologists to Influence Policy Makers

Scientific findings from the field make an impact only if they are used to drive public health actions. And field epidemiologists often find themselves under pressure of convincing policy makers to take immediate move in response to the publicly concerned events .Thus, communicating with decision-makers to promote rapid and appropriate use of evidence based recommendations is important for field epidemiologists.

The Science and Art for Epidemiologists to Influence Policy Makers Workshop was jointly conducted by The ASEAN Plus FETN Foundation together with the ASEAN Plus Three FETN as a Pre-conference Workshop of the 9 ^th Global TEPHINET Scientific Conference on 6 August 2017 in Chaingmai Thailand.

This workshop aimed to help field epidemiologists to understand typical policymakers’ information needs, and get familiar with essential messages and channels for communicating with policymakers.

Thirty three participants from 11 countries joined this half-day workshop. Principles of communication with policy maker was introduced, and 3 case studies based on real experiences from Japan, Singapore and Thailand were shared. Key messages were summarized after discussion among experts and participants.

The workshop concluded that epidemiologists could facilitate evidence-based policy making. The process should be initiated with legitimate study and credible results, and followed by smooth communication with right focus and good timing. These steps require skills and experience which could, and should, be trained in FETP programs.

Workshop participants also suggested further actions regarding bridging technical finding and policy making, including further develop this workshop with international development partners, repeat this workshop to cover wider ranges of audience, adding related contents into curriculum of FETP training especially Training of Trainers, etc.

Below you will find relevant information and publications of this workshop.