Writing a policy brief in the health sector

Dear Editor,Health policy is course of actions developed by policy makers and senior managers in the areas of financing, resource generation and health service delivery to promote, restore, and maintain health of the community. In fact, health policies are guides for formulating health programs and actions by front-line managers. Research evidence should be used for health policy making. A policy brief is a short document that presents the findings and recommendations of a research project to policy makers and senior managers. It is a tool for providing policy advice to health policy makers, which includes a summary of the issue or problem, solutions to solve the problem and their advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of the policy brief is to help policy makers or people influencing the policy making process to make better and faster decisions. Therefore, the policy brief should include background information to fully understand the problem and its root causes, convince the policy maker of the necessity of solving the problem, provide the necessary information on the best options for solving the problem and encourage the policy maker to make the right decision. The main and mandatory components of a policy brief are the title, executive summary, introduction, policy problem, research method and findings, policy recommendations and policy implications. Optional components of a policy brief include columns, case studies, tables, figures, graphics, photographs, authors' names, acknowledgments, publication details, and references.