From November 2017 to January 2018, Programme Management Office (PMO) of China-UK Global Health Support Programme (GHSP) and the China Global Health Network (CGHN) Secretariat jointly launched small-scale policy research bids and selected 11 tendering institutions as Programme Implementing Angencies (PIAs) to conduct the 6-month "CGHN Small-scale Policy Research".

According to the Annual Work Plan, PMO and the Secretariat organized the midterm review activity to know the research progress and phased deliverables of PIAs, ensure the research work was proceeding as planned, and provide suggestions for the next step. The mid-term review expert team consisted of four experts who had both theoretical and practical experience in the fields of global health, international politics, and disease prevention and control. The form of review included written review (10-15 April) and on-site review (16-17 April).

From 16^th to 17^th April 2018, the mid-term on-site review meeting was held in Beijing. On the morning of 16^th April, PMO and the experts firstly held a closed-door meeting to review the preliminary opinions one by one, discuss the existing problems, negotiate and confirm the key content for the next on-site review with PIAs.

From the afternoon of April 16^th to the morning of 17^th April. 11 PIAs respectively introduced their research progress in turn; through on-site questions and exchanges, the review experts learned more about the details of implementation, and put forward improvement suggestions for next step. The Department of International Cooperation (DIC) of National Health Commission paid great attention to the progress and future results of the policy research. Nie Jiangang, the deputy director of DIC, Shao Meng, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Division and She Zhiwen, Principal Staff Member, all attended the on-site review meeting, and put forward their needs and expectations for those researches from the perspective of “end users”, which helped PIAs to have a clearer understanding of the direction and content of their research work.

On the afternoon of 17^th April, PMO and review experts continued to hold another closed-door meeting to discuss the opinions formed after the on-site review again, and ultimately formed objective and fair decisions. On the one hand, the review decision is an important basis for the next contract payment conducted by PMO. On the other hand, the comments and suggestions on the improvement for the next step will provide substantive guidance and assistance to the PIAs to conduct the next period work.

During the meeting, we saw a group of "actually-working" people—the review experts. In the whole process of written and on-site review, they kept meticulously preciseness; they adhered to the principles of objectivity and impartiality; and they maintained academic integrity and dare to say no. We also see a group of people who “want to do things”—the PIAs. Among them, some people arrived early in the morning to report on time; someone worked overtime at night to revise their speeches in order to keep improving; someone continued to work in Beijing after the meeting in order to speed up the progress…… Although there were straightforward criticisms and intense discussions in the process, the reviewers and PIAs had a better understanding of each other because everyone understood that the common purpose was to make the research results truly contribute to the advancement of our country's global health work.

A sharp sword comes from long-time polish, plum blossoms are fragrant because of suffering a cold winter. We believe that after the baptism of the mid-term review, 11 PIAs under the CGHN Small-scale Policy Research will continue to work hard along the original research direction. And we expect that the study will be completed on schedule within 3 months with the fruitful final deliverables.

Background

The China Global Health Network (hereinafter referred to as the “Network”) is supported and funded by the UK-China Global Health Support Program (GHSP) and is voluntary formed of various agencies engaged in and involved in global health in China, which is a professional, non-profit, and unincorporated social organizations. The network was formally established in Beijing on 6^th December 2015, its English name is China Global Health Network, CGHN for short.

In December 2017, GHSP PMO and the CGHN Secretariat jointly launched a tendering invitation facing CGHN members about “Global Governance and Key Countries' Participation in Antibiotics Resistance and the Revelations for China”, “Assessment on Health Collaboration Requirements and Research on the Collaborating Strategy of Key Countries along the Belt and Road” and “self-selected topics of global health research”. After review, 11 tendering institutions from Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan, Kunming, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Guangzhou were selected as PIAs to carry out these policy studies in six months.

(By Programme Management Office: Center for Project Supervision and Management, NHFPC)