Table 4.
Recommendations related to each HRS function/component
| HRS functions/components | Recommendations related to HRS components, comprehensive strategies and negative impacts |
|---|---|
| Governance | Governance |
| 1 Coordination | 1 Enhance coordination of the governance function—ideally as part of an overall health research strategy, at minimum as pandemic preparation |
| 2 Priority-setting | 2 Develop transparent mechanisms, including using an equity lens, for wide/public engagement in priority-setting, rapid centralized (trial) prioritization in a crisis and encourage adherence to and monitoring of priorities, which may require adjustment over time |
| 3 Ethical approval | 3 Identify ways, including increased resources, to sustain pandemic progress and accelerate ethics and other approvals and enhance data access and sharing |
| 4 Evaluation | 4 Incorporate into evaluation approaches routine assessment of research impact on health policies, practice, equity, and health and economic well-being; recognize the new opportunities for more rapid assessments |
| Financing | Financing |
| 5 Securing finance | 5 Encourage continuation of enhanced research funding by documenting impacts from COVID-19 research and discourage cuts in non-COVID-19 research by analysing the damage already caused; identify ways to tackle waste |
| Capacity | Capacity |
| 6 Capacity-building | 6 Train and sustain as wide a range of research capacity as can be afforded and include pandemic planning; integrate clinical research capacity into healthcare systems; enhance/build capacity to use and communicate research |
| Production and use | Production and use of research knowledge |
| 7 Knowledge production | 7 Continue the accelerated methods of research production—where possible using the new vaccines platforms, more adaptive platform trials, transdisciplinary research and, if relevant, co-production; continue the trends towards rapid open access publication |
| 8 Promote use in new products | 8 Continue accelerated translation of research into new products by, where appropriate, encouraging continuation of unprecedented levels of public/private collaboration and public funding of research and regulatory bodies |
| 9 Translate to inform policies, practice and opinion | 9 Promote structures, cultures and networks that encourage the use of evidence relevant for the needs of policy-making and practice using an equity framework; recognize the importance, and fund, collaborative living guidelines; invest in strategic, evidence-based communication that accounts for current political realities, the influence of key stakeholder groups and individuals, and variations in audience understanding and preference—and is therefore trustworthy |
| Comprehensive strategies for health research | 10 Develop and implement comprehensive health research strategies enhancing the effectiveness of specific steps and maximizing opportunities for producing research to improve health policies, practice, equity, and health and economic well-being |
| Negative impacts on HRSs | 11 Use the HRS strategy to help address problems created, or exacerbated, by the pandemic; build on steps taken to address funding/early-career/minority/gender issues; recognize and promote improved (digital) techniques developed to facilitate research and engagement during the pandemic |