1 Listening to Experts in Times of Crisis: A Success Story to Fight COVID-19 in Afghanistan Author Khwaja Mir Islam SAEED 1 , Abdul Tawab SALJUQI 2 , Nasratullah ANSARI 3 Affiliation 1 Global Health Development/Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (GHD/EMPHNET), Field Epidemiology Training Program, Afghanistan National Public Health Institute 2 University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Tucson, Arizona, The United States of America 3 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Corresponding author contact info Email: ksaeed@emphnet.net, Phone number: +93202109103 and ORCID: 0000-0002-8799-4604 Summary Science, Epidemiology and Research (SER) committee was established as an independent scientific committee to provide the government of Afghanistan technical advice on scientific and epidemiological matters to fight COVID-19. The committee has provided extensive support and produced 20 policy briefs to the health sector in Afghanistan, many of which were part of the national action to control the spread of the pandemic. In the post-COVID-19, SER can be transformed into a think tank for public health in Afghanistan. The experience of this committee is worth assessment and replication to other similar contexts in the low and middle-income countries. Its unique structure and scientific policy briefs can be an example for other nations with similar challenges. Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic, Afghanistan, Policy Brief, Advisory Committee, Government خلصه کم ی ته سا ی نس، اپ ی د ی م ی ولوژ ی و تحق ی قات(SER) وان به عن ی ک کم ی ته علم ی مستقل برا ی ها مشاوره ارائه ی فن ی و تخن ی ک ی منح ی ث ی ک کم ی ته فن ی علمستان در مورد مسائلفغان به دولت ا ی و اپ ی دم ی ولوژ ی ک برا یزه با مرض کو مبار ی د- ۱۹ جر در ی ان پاند ی م ی ا ی جاد شد. ا ی ن کم ی ته حما ی ت گسترده ا ی را جهتنکشاف ا۲۰ پال ی س یا برا ر مختصر یان تهفغانستور صحت در ا سکت ی هت که بس کرده اس ی ار یز آنها بخش ا ی مل از اقدام ی برا ی کنترل ش ی وعضی مریمه ه گ ی روران پس از کود. در دو بو ی د- ۱۹ ، SER م ی تواند به ی کق فکر براتا ا یان تبدفغانستمه در ا صحت عا ی ل شود. تجربه ا ی ن کم ی ته ارزش ارز ی اب یار در و تکر سا ی ر زم ی نه ها ی در کشورها مشابه یصه پال منحصر به فرد و خلرد. ساختار متوسط را دارآمد و کم د ی س ی ها ی علم ی آن م ی تواند نمون ه ا ی برا ی کشورها ی د ی گر با چالش ها یابه باشد مش. کلمات کل ی د ی: کو ی د- ۱۹ ، پاند ی م ی، ستان، پالفغان ا ی س یختصر، کم م ی ته مشورت ی، دولت Introduction ow-income countries have faced a triple burden during the COVID-19 pandemic: the previously existing double burden of both infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases, plus the pandemic itself. 1 Fragile states like Afghanistan have suffered the worse scenarios in this pandemic because armed conflict, migration, and poverty have deteriorated the resiliency of the health care system. 2 Soon after the first case of the virus was detected, the government of Afghanistan established the national response commission and directed all governmental institutions to dedicate their resources to this critical problem. A national COVID-19 response plan was developed that focused on L