Program Science: an initiative to improve the planning, implementation and evaluation of HIV/sexually transmitted infection prevention programmes

agreed-on evidence’ about interventions and then pushing that evidence into policy formulation and implementation has two important drawbacks. First, this approach does not address how policies and programmes are to be developed when there are evidence gaps, nor is this approach suited for dealing with complexity in causation or interventions and the importance of the social and epidemiological context. Second, this approach tends to separate researchers from those engaged in programme development and implementation. They therefore recommend emphasising a paradigm of ‘getting research out of practice’ that engages scientists and programme planners and implementers jointly to develop and refine hypotheses about the impact of an intervention strategy, and focuses on operational research, process evaluation and proper outcome evaluation to build the knowledge base further about what works in different contexts and why. We strongly endorse the approach advocated by Parkhurst and colleagues. 7 In