The ‘setting priorities fairly’ event is the first of its kind for Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), with the main event opened by Ghana’s Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu. How important is it for representatives from SSA to share knowledge to optimise the impact of health spending?

The prospect of HTA in SSA is promising, with an increasing number of countries planning to use HTA as a priority-setting tool to promote Universal Health Coverage (UHC). In the light of this, it is crucial that SSA countries share experiences (however little) to learn from each other.

What can attendees to your workshop session on case studies of how Health Technology Assessment can inform decisions on cost-effectiveness expect?

Attendees can expect to learn what has been done already, especially in the case of Ghana and how that applies to their specific country context.

Ghana was the first Sub Saharan African country to introduce a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and has long standing commitment towards achieving UHC, of course, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to UHC, but what is on Ghana’s agenda?

Ghana’s road to UHC through the NHIS has been brave and bumpy, with key challenges relating to financial sustainability. However, given the political support – from all sides of the political divide – the future of the NHIS is bright. A key approach is expanding enrolment through innovative strategies including group enrolment, enrolment of prison inmates etc. In addition, there are efforts to boost the financial status of the NHIS while removing other bottlenecks to promote UHC. A key way forward is re-visiting the Primary Health Care agenda to strengthen close-to-client services and implement provider payment mechanisms that reduce overall service costs and enhance sustainability of the scheme. The overall improvements in the economy could boost fiscal space for health and fast-track attainment of UHC.

You have led on a number of research projects on health economics and policy in Ghana, Botwsana, Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria – what has been your biggest achievement?

My joyous moments (which I see as achievements) are when I see that recommendations from a previous study I was involved in are evaluated and implemented. A typical example was when the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization in Botswana accepted the findings and recommendations of our study on efficiency and begun planning to implement.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy seeing my former students in decision-making roles, applying some of the things they learnt. I also enjoy being involved in discussions and networking (with networks such as the platform that iDSI provides) that are directly relevant for evidence-informed policy making in low- and middle-income countries, particularly efforts that benefit Ministries of Health.

If you weren’t a health economist, what would you be doing instead?

I would have been a geomorphologist, studying earth formations.

Registered delegates can attend the workshop Justice will feature in, ‘Introduction to Health Technology Assessment’, from 1pm on 26 September 2018, as part of Setting priorities fairly: sustainable policies for effective resource allocation in Africa.

The workshop is free to attend. Participants will be selected by Indonesia’s HTA Committee and the WHO from select universities and relevant units within the Ministry of Health. Although the workshop has a targeted audience, anyone interested in learning more about the workshop or HTA in Indonesia can contact Dr Dewi Indriani by emailing indrianid@who.int. The event flyer is available here.

We look forward seeing you there!

July 2014

NICE International was pleased to host a delegation from the Vietnamese central and provincial governments as part of the EU-funded Health Sector Capacity Support Project. The delegation consisted of members of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and representatives from the health services departments in the Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, and Ha Nam provinces. Vietnam is proposing substantial health reform over the coming years and the delegates learnt about the role of NICE in the NHS and also the importance of primary care to delivering high quality, efficient and equitable services.  Representatives from Monitor and the London Procurement Partnership also addressed the delegation providing invaluable insights into the regulation of hospitals and procurement mechanisms in the NHS. NICE International is currently working with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health on a series of in-country projects, and this visit highlighted the importance of engaging across government departments and on a central and provincial level.

Health Minister Madame Tien visits NICE

October 2013

In the second visit to NICE by the Ministry of Health, Vietnam, Health Minister Madame Tien led the delegation and learned about the role of GPs and primary care in the NHS from Dr Maggie Helliwell, the Vice Chair of NICE and a GP. Primary care will be an important part of Vietnam’s healthcare reform strategy. The Ministry of Health and NICE engaged in dialogue about opportunities to strengthen our ongoing collaboration (in quality improvement and HTA capacity-building) into a long-term partnership covering broad strategic areas, to create sustainable institutions that deliver improved health for the population of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Ministry of Health visits NICE

July 2013

A delegation from the Ministry of Health of Vietnam and affiliated organisations, led by the Vice Minister for Health, Madame Xuyen spent five days with NICE to help inform the Ministry’s strategy for quality improvement.

The group learnt about the structure of the NHS, NICE HTA processes, the development and Implementation of guidelines, Quality Standards including pay for performance schemes and the role and structure of Primary Care in the UK. They visited the Health and Social CareInformation Centre and the stroke Unit at St Thomas’ hospital in London. The Study Tour was funded by the Joint Learning Fund. Summarising her experience of the Study Tour Madame Xuyen said: “this is one of the most interesting and useful trip they have ever participated in.

Associate director of NICE International Francoise Cluzeau undertook a scoping visit to Ethiopia in conjunction with the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp) and EVIDENT, an extensive network of North-South partners that aims to enhance evidence-informed decision-making and policy driven research in both health and nutrition in response to local priority concerns.

The visit included meetings with the State Minister of Health and Ministry of Health Senior Adviser, colleagues from the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Addis Ababa university and the Ethiopian Health Insurance Agency.

Discussions highlighted outlined areas of potential involvement for NICE International/iDSI to help Ethiopia in its efforts on achieving Universal Health Coverage through priority setting activities with a focus on health economics training to help strengthen technical capacity at the Ministry of health and its agencies.