A report by Social Enterprise UK highlights the important role that social enterprise can play in tackling the challenges set by the Sustainable Development Goals. The report argues that the role of business with a social purpose should not be understated in our pursuit of more equitable and sustainable development.
Monitoring Value for Money of donor expenditure: learning lessons from the iDSI Reference Case
How do donors in international development make sure they are not wasting money? Doing so is harder than it may initially seem. Money is spent thousands of miles away from headquarters, in settings where information is poor, politics complex and staff turnover rapid. In practice, many use Value for Money (VfM) analysis to try and stay on top of this …
Ministry of Health of India publishes drafts of the first National Standard Treatment Guidelines online for public consultation
As part of a programme of work outline in the MoU signed between NICE international and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), NICE international have been providing technical support to the National Health Systems Resource centre (NHSRC) to develop standard treatment guidelines (STG’s) in 10 key clinical areas, including non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, and respiratory disease. Development …
Off-Label Use of Drugs and Access to Medicines for All: A Thailand Example – Asia Unbound blog
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
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
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 …
International Decision Support Initiative awarded US$12.8m grant from the Gates Foundation
In January 2016, the international Decision Support Initiative (iDSI, www.idsihealth.org) launches Phase 2 with an award of US$12.8 million (£8.9 million) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This represents a major single investment by the Foundation dedicated to making better decisions for better health, and a significant commitment by the Foundation and iDSI partners worldwide to enacting the Bangkok Statement …
Supporting India’s efforts towards Universal Health Coverage
NICE International has been providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) at central and state level since 2009. Through the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI) it is active in three areas: 1. Health Technology Assessment Under the terms of the partnership MoU between NICE and the MoHFW Department of Health Research (DHR), and linking to the …
Workshop to develop quality standards for antimicrobial resistance in Hanoi
In December 2015 Dr Francoise Cluzeau, NICE International travelled to Hanoi for the second in a series of workshops for the UK/Vietnam Partner Driven Collaboration entitled “Towards an evidence based National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Vietnam”. This collaboration aims to create an evidence informed methodology and governed working processes to develop and implement policies and guidelines for controlling AMR in Vietnam. It …
The musings of a NICE International intern from when a Vietnamese delegation came to visit
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 …