Pre-conference Workshop: Applied health economics in Africa: Using examples from immunization

Calling all global health economics students, early career researchers and policy makers involved in resource allocation decisions for health technologies…

Develop your skills in:

  • Producing economic evaluations
  • Carrying out a cost effectiveness/budget impact analysis
  • Making economics more useful for policy
  • Linking Health Technology Assessment and sustainable Health Benefits Package design
  • Building local capacity in vaccine economics

 

When? 8.30am-4.30pm, 11 March 2019

Where? Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel, Accra, Ghana

Register by 21 February at: Registration Form

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Organizer

Teaching Vaccine Economics Everywhere (Johns Hopkins University) and International Decision Support Initiative

Background

Skills in developing and using financial and economic information in decision-making are critical for forming health policy. Economics and financing concepts are an essential component of a sustainable Universal Health Coverage (UHC) system, and comprehensive decision-making approaches for a range of health system interventions and technologies is required for benefits package design under UHC.

There are few opportunities for policy makers and technical staff in LMICs to gain these skills as part of their primary professional training and few resources for them to turn to in mid-career. Local business schools and public health schools in many countries in Africa rarely offer a curriculum that is tailored to improving decisions related to priority setting and health financing.  If nothing is done, millions of dollars will be wasted and lives put at risk because financing priorities are not aligned properly, or because life-saving interventions and delivery strategies are not adopted.

To respond to these needs, we are offering a workshop on methods and processes for priority setting related to healthcare interventions, drawing on examples related to immunization as an entry point for capacity strengthening and skills building.

About Us

The Teaching Vaccine Economics Everywhere (TVEE) project is focused on capacity building in applied vaccine economics, cost- effectiveness and finance. Johns Hopkins faculty together with local vaccine delivery experts and academics from Uganda, South Africa, India, and Pakistan have developed and deployed a curriculum that is customized with examples based on local context. The modular themes covered include: economic evaluation, costing of programs, strategies and policies, program evaluation, budget optimization, financing, resource tracking and vaccine economics.

The International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI) is a global collaboration of researchers, policy makers, and technical experts aimed at partnering with countries to strengthen decision making on the road to Universal Health Coverage.

Session Description

The pre-conference training session on Priority Setting and Applied Health Economics is a joint collaboration between the TVEE project and iDSI. Covering key methodological and process concepts related to the use of economic evaluation within the context of immunization, the training focuses on the option of reaching mid-career policy makers with short courses in health economics that are designed to be relevant to the trainee. The objectives of this session are:

  1. Build capacity in health economics principles using examples from immunization
  2. Introduce key elements in the production and application of economic evaluation including cost effectiveness analysis and budget impact analysis.
  3. Discuss common linkages between high quality HTA and sustainable health benefits package design.
  4. Inform of opportunities to apply vaccine economics in the real world and train colleagues in their country.

The training workshop will cover 4 main topics: 1) Introduction to economic evaluation and priority setting, 2) modelling cost-effectiveness studies, 3) how to make economics more useful for policy, and 4) how to build local capacity in vaccine economics.

 

At the end of the session, participants will have a strong foundation in applied priority setting and enhanced skills for answering key economics and financing questions on whether to introduce a new technology, how to maximize coverage, how to have sustainable financing, what resources are required for future work. Examples will be from the immunization field, but key principles and concepts will be applicable to decision making for a range of health technologies and in health benefits package design.  

Intended Audience

The workshop would be helpful for global health economics students, trainers and early career researchers as well as for policy makers in ministries of health and finance involved in resource allocation decisions for health technologies including National Essential Medicines List and Health Benefits Advisory Committees. The training will also be useful for individuals involved in analysis and decision making related to vaccines including Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) managers, National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NiTAG), and immunization inter-agency coordination committee members.

Proposed Faculty

  1. David Bishai
  2. William (Bill) Padula
  3. Emmanuel Drabo
  4. Ijeoma Edoka
  5. Chrispus Mayora
  6. Shreena Malaviya
  7. Tommy Wilkinson
  8. Justice Nonvignon


Proposed Agenda

TOPICS

Facilitators

TIME

DURATION

Registration

 

8:30 – 9:00

30 mins

Capacity Needs in Health Economics and How to Address It

David Bishai

9:00 – 9:30

30 mins

Introduction to Priority Setting in health for Vaccines and broader health technologies

Emmanuel Drabo

Tommy Wilkinson

9:30 – 10:30

1 hour

BREAK

 

10:30 – 10:45

15 mins

Introduction to Economic Evaluation and use in health technology assessment + Exercise

Bill Padula, Shreena Malaviya, Tommy Wilkinson

10:45 – 12:45

2 hours

LUNCH

 

12:45 – 13:45

1 hour

Economic Evaluation Methodology

Ijeoma Edoka and Justice Nonvignon

13:45 – 14:45

1 hour

Application of Economic Evaluation + Decision Tree Modeling Exercise

Chrispus Mayora, Shreena Malaviya

14:45 – 16:00

1 hour 15 mins

Opportunities to Build Capacity in Priority Setting and Vaccine Economics

David Bishai

16:00 – 16:30

30 mins