In health spending, middle-income countries face a priorities ditch, not a financing ditch – but that still merits aid

By Amanda Glassman , Charles Kenny Jun. 3, 2015

After a successful replenishment earlier this year, the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is thinking through how to maximize the impact of the money it has raised. One hot issue is graduation from Gavi support. Currently, the Alliance uses an income cutoff loosely based on eligibility for IDA — soft loans from the World Bank. Other aid agencies, including the Global Fund …

We need better value from every rand we spend on healthcare in South Africa

Karen Hofman, Aviva Tugendhaft Feb. 25, 2015

South Africa is in the process of preparing for a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme to reach universal health coverage by 2025. Attaining this goal in a resource-constrained environment will rely in part on understanding which interventions should be prioritised and how resources should be allocated.

The NICE threshold: How much is too much? Who decides?

By Ryan Li Feb. 19, 2015

Prof Karl Claxton, University of York, and colleagues have argued that NICE is advising the UK National Health Service “to pay too much” for new drugs. NICE typically recommends treatments for use in the NHS where their cost-effectiveness falls below the threshold of around £20,000 and £30,000 per QALY gained (quality-adjusted life year). New research led by Claxton suggests that paying more …