Shouldn't we be concerned about public welfare and focus on good scientific evidence for better policy? Globally, scientific evidence-based policy is taking a hit these days, but in some societies it has never really existed. We have never really developed a culture where our own health and welfare policy is coming from locally-led, basic or applied science discoveries. It is not that local science is distrusted, it is largely irrelevant in the policy domain. Translation of research into policy is a multi-faceted problem that requires not just scientists, but science journalists who can understand the science and share with the broader public, social scientists who study the impact, and politicians who care.