This month iDSI attended the HTAsia Link conference in Chiang Mai. As always, the event was a jam-packed capacity-building platform for global Health Technology Assessment (HTA) experts and early-career researchers. The overarching theme this year was strengthening HTA for better healthcare; and the take-home message was the need for policy-makers to be on side for HTA to help bridge the evidence-policy …
Economic evaluation workshop for immunisation program staff
Nearly 30 staff involved in immunisation programs in Sub-Saharan Africa attended a special workshop on the economics of vaccines at the University of Witwatersrand last month. The workshop, delivered by health economists from PRICELESS SA and John Hopkins University, focused on improving the sustainability of vaccine delivery in low and middle-income countries. Dr Anthony Kinghorn, Senior Technical Advisor; and Dr …
Innovative approaches to address the HIV epidemic in Kenya
Kenya has delivered successful HIV prevention programmes since the 1990s, which have resulted in a dramatic decrease of new infections. Over the last two decades access to treatment has also risen significantly. At present approximately one million people are living with HIV in Keyna are on antiretroviral therapy (ART – the use of HIV medicines to treat HIV infection); and the …
Launch of new Chinese health ministry should help develop UK-China partnership in Health Technology Assessment
The National People’s Congress of China has endorsed the National Health Commission, which will replace the National Health and Family Planning Commission, paving the way for greater Health Technology Assessment in China. The new ministry has been launched following a sweeping reorganisation of China’s State Council and a set of institutional reforms. The National Health Commission will be responsible for …
New treatment guidelines launched in Tanzania
Tanzania’s Standard Treatment Guidelines and essential medicines list have been updated following a collaboration between iDSI core partner PRICELESS SA, PATH and the Tanzanian Ministry of Health. This will help ensure that patients receive appropriate and high quality standardised care at affordable cost, and reduce the provision of inappropriate or unsafe care. Following a series of workshops and guidance on …
Global Health & Development team hosts Thai public health delegation
A delegation from Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), hosted by Imperial’s Global Health & Development team, visited London and Warwick this month to learn about healthcare in the UK. Like many countries, Thailand is plagued by the ‘modern epidemic’ of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), responsible for 70 per cent of deaths worldwide. Nearly three-quarters of these deaths occur in developing …
Improving hypertension detection and control in Kerala – the journey continues
The Government of Kerala, with technical assistance from iDSI, delivered a ‘training of trainers’ programme for 46 doctors and 57 nurses from six districts of Kerala, enabling them to train further healthcare staff across the State. Also present were 12 clinicians and 18 staff nurses from the Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts, whose focus is on hypertension Quality Standards. The ‘training …
China National Health Development Research Center announced as iDSI core partner
iDSI is delighted to announce that the China National Health Development Research Center (CNHDRC) has become one of our core partners. The announcement follows the appointment of Mr Hongwei Yang, Deputy Director-General of CNHDRC, as a non-executive member of the iDSI Board in 2017. Through the work of Professor Kun Zhao, Director of the Health Policy and Technology Assessment Division, …
Developing methods for use of the iDSI Reference Case
Research groups developing methods to support the use of the iDSI Reference Case (RC) for economic evaluation met to discuss work to date at a workshop in Glasgow. The iDSI RC sets out a principle-based framework as an ‘aid to thinking’ to inform better decision making in health in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). Representatives from Imperial College London, University of …
Attending this year’s Indian Health Economics and Policy Association meeting
This month we attended the 6th annual Indian Health Economics and Policy Association (IHEPA) meeting in Pondicherry to share knowledge on applying economic principles to address key issues within India’s health sector. At the meeting we both featured on a panel with other leading academics from around the world and discussed the use of cost-effectiveness in the Indian healthcare system. …