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WHO reports decreased local spending on health in presence of donor aid – so what does this mean?

By Laura Downey, Alec Morton, Private: Kalipso Chalkidou Jul. 27, 2017

Over the past decade there has been a noticeable shift in global health analyses from a macro focus on achievement of key metrics such as the Millennium (now Sustainable) Development Goals, to micro-level scrutiny of discrete aspects of health system functioning. One recent example is the WHO report “towards UHC – thinking public”, published online recently. This report explores the …

CGD blog highlights take home messages from the HBP workshop, March 2017

By Amanda Glassman Mar. 23, 2017

Following the recent iDSI International Seminar on Using Evidence for Decision-Making and Health Benefits Package Design (6-8 March 2017),  Amanda Glassman offers key take home messages for defining and updating health benefits packages for UHC in her recent CGD blog. Read the blog here. Seminar resources can be found here. The book What’s In, What’s Out: Designing Benefits for Universal Health …

The Little Blue Pill That Can Protect Your Heart?

By Karlena Luz Sep. 9, 2016

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening condition that makes it harder for blood to flow due to narrow or blocked arteries. As a result, the heart has to work harder to pump blood, which eventually makes it weaker and increases the risk of heart failure. Incidentally, the drug sildenafil, originally tested for heart problems on the basis of its …

Setting Universal Health Coverage Priorities: India and Dialysis

By Amanda Glassman Aug. 24, 2016

Amanda Glassman, Vice President for Programs, Director of Global Health Policy, and Senior Fellow and Rebecca Forman, Programme Coordinator for the Global Health Policy team, at IDSI partner organisation CGD have published a blog on the Indian Governments’ announcement on its intention to provide dialysis in every district hospital in the country, following the governments commitment to set up Universal Health Coverage (UHC) …

Musings and Mopeds in Vietnam – Part 1

Maggie Helliwell Apr. 1, 2016

This is a guest post by Maggie Helliwell, retired English general practitioner and former Vice Chair of NICE  One morning early in 2016, an email popped into my inbox from NICE International: Would I like to go to Vietnam in March to help the Ministry of Health develop their primary care strategy? At first I had to say no as …

What could India’s HTA mechanism for its healthcare system look like?

By Alia Luz, Saudamini Dabak Feb. 26, 2016

With HTA gaining ground as a tool for priority-setting globally, it comes as no surprise that countries are trying to find ways to adapt HTA to their particular healthcare system and context. Such was the case the HITAP team found when we went to India for a national level economic evaluation for healthcare workshop and symposium from November 30th to …

Off-Label Use of Drugs and Access to Medicines for All: A Thailand Example – Asia Unbound blog

Susie Colville Feb. 11, 2016

Yanzhong Huang’s blog, Off-Label Use of Drugs and Access to Medicines for All: A Thailand Example, reflects on the role of off-label drugs for improving affordable access to innovative medicines and facilitating progress towards UHC, highlighting the Thai experience of bevacizumab. “up to 68 percent of out of pocket health costs in resource-limited countries is for medication… inclusion of off-label drugs in the UHC …

iDSI scale up means more health for the money – Impatient Optimists blog

By Amanda Glassman Feb. 10, 2016

Amanda Glassman, Vice President for Programs, Director of Global Health Policy, and Senior Fellow at iDSI partner organisation CGD has offered her view on what the recently announced scale up of iDSI and US$12.8m grant awarded to the initiative by the Gates Foundation will mean for global health. Read her full blog post here.    

Healthcare Priority Setting in the Courts: Introducing a Working Paper

Rebecca Dittrich Feb. 1, 2016

The judicialization of the right to health plays a significant role in the success of priority setting for universal health coverage. The right to health is entrenched in international treaties signed by all UN member states, and the constitutional and legislative law of over 50% of countries. And, patients are increasingly turning to the courts to uphold this basic human …

The musings of a NICE International intern from when a Vietnamese delegation came to visit

Ashok Manandhar Nov. 27, 2015

On the 19th of December 2015, NICE International host a 21-strong Vietnamese delegation headed by Professor Phạm Lê Tuấn, Vice Minister of Health, and as a young intern the whole experience was fascinating for me. The delegation comprised a number of heads of departments, directors and senior officials who formed a broad spectrum of Vietnamese health policy makers, seeking to …