I was fortunate enough to visit Kolkata in November 2017 to discuss the application of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) with academics from Calcutta University, the Institute for Development Studies Kolkata, Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, the National Sample Survey Organisation and the Institute of Public Health in Kalyani. Whilst in town I was invited to give seminars at the Department …
UHC Day 2017: The need for a sensible, fair and evidence based Health Benefits Package
The push for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) must focus on designing a Health Benefits Package that is sensible, fair and evidence based – this was the take-home message from IDSI’s visit to Washington DC this week. The US capital was the setting for three days of meetings and events to mark UHC Day and the release of ‘What’s In, What’s …
Implementing Diabetic Foot Quality Standards in Mumbai
The implementation of diabetic foot quality standards (QS) within primary care in Mumbai, supported by iDSI, has resulted in the identification of patients at risk of neuropathy who may have otherwise gone undetected. Between April-October 2017 842 diabetes patients that attended Dispensary 9 at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre had their feet examined once by physicians that had received additional …
A Policy Dialogue on Designing and Implementing a Health Services Package for South Africa – March 2017, South Africa
The South African government’s vision for 2030 is to provide quality health care for all. In alignment with this vision, South Africa is on a path towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the National Department of Health (NDoH) released a White Paper in December 2015 on a National Health Insurance (NHI) for South Africa, subsequently updated in June 2017. In …
Improving detection and control of hypertension in Kerala, India
A risk factor left unmonitored Hypertension is a leading risk factor for mortality in India with more than 200 million people in the country estimated to have high blood pressure (BP). There is, however, very little awareness about this silent killer with 75% of the rural and 60% of the urban Indian population unaware of their hypertensive status. BP control in …
Indian public health budget allocation announced today at 20% lower than expected: Is the Government justified in not increasing the budget in line with Ministry of Health requests?
The government of India has today approved a three-year budget for its flagship public health programme, the National Health Mission. At $20billion, this budget is almost 20 percent lower than what the health ministry said was needed, according to documents reviewed by Reuters India. This leaves the potential increase of funding to the health system at 2.5% GDP from the …
7 key messages from the new iDSI report “Improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare services in Ghana through HTA”
In Africa, the burden of communicable diseases, maternal and child morbidities and mortalities is fast shifting towards chronic non- communicable diseases, giving rise to a phenomenon known as “double burden of illness”. Given that few domestic resources are allocated to health, and externally provided funds are committed to siloed disease programmes, there is an urgent need to develop practical and …
Equality for women – can it help to achieve universal health coverage?
Focusing on universal health coverage and the sustainable development goals, Isabelle Parsons who recently completed work experience with the Global Health and Development Group at Imperial College London, shares her thoughts on the relationship between improving women’s rights and reducing healthcare costs. Maternal health care Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC) is a basic human right but is something that a great …
Towards HTA in the Philippines: iDSI welcomes passage of new Congress UHC Bill
September 6th 2017, the Philippines’ lower house of Congress approved the Universal Health Coverage Bill, introducing key reforms to improve population coverage, reform provider payment, and strengthen health technology assessment (HTA) implementation, among others. It has been 15 years since HTA was introduced in the Philippines through the efforts of dedicated key individuals. This development marks a crucial step towards …
iDSI’s vision: everyone should have access to quality healthcare
In our final installment of posts that highlights the new features of the iDSI website, Dr. Ryan Li introduces the Resources section – focusing on the principles for developing clinical quality standards in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). I remember very vividly two of the hospitals I visited in Vietnam, during my first field trip as a global …