A two day workshop focusing on differentiated care models (DCM) was delivered by iDSI, the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) and the National AIDS and STI Control Program (NASCOP) in Nairobi this month. The workshop was attended by 23 delegates representing NACC and NASCOP, as well partners from the Global Fund to fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the Centre …
First capacity building for HTA in India workshop kicks off in Delhi
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is an important tool for prioritising health resources in India’s journey towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), this was one of the key take-home messages from a workshop delivered by iDSI this month. The workshop was the first in a series that are designed to help build capacity for undertaking HTA in India; and come as the …
Capacity building for Health Technology Assessment in India: strengthening foundations for evidence-informed priority setting
iDSI is providing technical assistance to build essential capacity in the generation and utilisation of evidence to ensure the best value from every rupee spent in the Indian health system. This comes as the government of India has committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage by 2030. Setting the right priorities to maximise value of health …
Innovative Family Health Centres in Kerala support hypertension detection and control
iDSI staff visited Family Health Centres in Kerala to learn how the Centre’s activities are helping to improve hypertension detection and control in India. The visit formed part of an initiative led by the State Government of Kerala to increase the detection of new cases of hypertension through opportunistic blood pressure screening of adults at primary care facilities (known as …
60 seconds with…Dr Mohamed Gad, iDSI Technical Analyst
iDSI caught up with Technical Analyst Dr Mohamed Gad, a Health Economist and qualified GP who has practiced all over the world, ahead of the annual Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) meeting in Vancouver next week. You have led on developing a symposium that will be delivered at HTAi 2018, what will this focus on? The symposium will focus on …
iDSI at HTAsia Link 2018
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 …