The effectiveness of government programs can be greatly increased if inputs and independent review are provided by scientific, engineering, and health experts - honest brokers who bridge the gap between what is technically possible and politically achievable in areas such as agricul-ture, education, energy, environment, and health. For example, many international deliberations, running the gamut from intellectual property rights to environmental and health regulations, require governments to fully understand the S&T premises that underlie the decisions they are negotiating. Each country therefore needs to create suitable mechanisms for providing impartial scientific and technological advice to government policymakers. Informed and reliable counsel could come from specially appointed committees of experts, standing multidisciplinary advisory bodies, independent institutions such as merit-based academies of science, engineering, or medicine, or from professional societies. (Box 11 offers an example of how S&T capacity is needed to inform government policies on emerging health issues.)

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