摘要：Put crudely, there are two schools of thought when it comes to
how to mobilize the global evidence base to better inform public
policy. One approach is to let the evidence speak for itself, or in
other words, systematically review and synthesize research evidence on the specific question or topic and then provide a succinct summary of what the evidence shows to policy makers.
Another approach is to assemble a committee of scientists or
experts, which may be called a scientific advisory committee
(SAC), and then get them to assess the evidence and provide
advice to guide policy options. In general, there seems to be
a trend towards more of the first and less of the latter which
strengthens the validity and opportunity for scrutiny through
more transparency. However, many of the difficult and complex
policy questions need a combination of both systematic reviews
and deliberative processes. Which questions to formulate and
study are often scientific discussions in their own right, and the
total body of knowledge gives often equivocal answers which
needs further studies and debates. Scientific deliberations
within SACs is therefore often a crucial part of a system well
equipped to provide evidence-informed policy making.
