background: various decisions have been made on technology application at all levels of the health system in different countries around the world. health technology assessment is considered as one of the best scientific tools at the service of policy- makers. this study attempts to investigate the current challenges of iran’s health technology assessment and provide appropriate strategies to es...

shiffman rightly raises questions about who exercises power in global health, suggesting power is a complex concept, and the way it is exercised is often opaque. power that is not based on financial strength but on knowledge or experience, is difficult to estimate, and yet it may provide the legitimacy to make moral claims on what is, or ought to be, on global health agendas. twenty years ago p...

policy making in health is largely thought to be driven by three ‘i's namely ideas, interests and institutions. recent years have seen a shift in approach with increasing reliance being placed on role of evidence for policy making. the present arti­cle ascertains the role of ideas and ideologies in shaping evidence which is used to aid in policy decisions. the article dis­cusses different theor...

Hard on the heels of evidence-based medicine (EBM) comes evidence-based policy and practice (EBPP). At all levels in healthcare systems there is a hunger for better knowledge to inform policy and practice. Is this yet another of the fashions and fads that continually beset the National Health Service, or does EBPP mark a development that could fundamentally change the way in which health policy...

the field of cognitive psychology has increasingly provided scientific insights to explore how humans are subject to unconscious sources of evidentiary bias, leading to errors that can affect judgement and decision-making. increasingly these insights are being applied outside the realm of individual decision-making to the collective arena of policy-making as well. a recent editorial in this jou...

Background SUPPORT tools consist of 18 articles addressing the health policy-makers so that they can learn how to make evidence-informed health policies. These tools have been particularly recommended for developing countries. The present study tries to explain the process of evidence utilization for developing policy documents in the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME) and...