International Health Economics Association Congress
Basel, Switzerland
Learning objectives
Developing benefit packages for UHC requires data, sound modelling frameworks, and the capacity to interpret results and use these to inform policy making. In this 4-hour session, participants will learn about WHO tools designed to facilitate such analysis, and share experiences on using data to drive purchasing decisions in low and middle income countries.
The objectives of this session are to orient participants to existing, practical tools for country level economic analysis to guide strategic purchasing priorities under UHC.
The session will include the following learning objectives:
- Practical, hands-on orientation to WHO-CHOICE tools which allow country level contextualised cost-effectiveness analysis to assess comparative value of health interventions.
- Practical, hands on orientation to tools to conduct budget impact assessment and analysis of health system implications of targets set for health service provision in the context of UHC.
- Discussions around lessons learnt for how benefit package design needs to align with overall health system strategic planning and financing (an overview of modelling options as well as country specific presentations on lessons learnt).
Responding to country needs
This session specifically responds to the question of how accepted methodologies for health benefit packages can be applied in low-resource settings. In addition to examining cost-effectiveness, it underlines the need to assess budget implications of proposed packages and the health system needs, to ensure there is fiscal space to scale up provision of the health service package to all those in need, including the most vulnerable. While these principles are commonly agreed on, the generation of evidence to support investment decisions is a common challenge. Tools and methods that can be contextualized to the local context through a user-friendly interface can play an important role in allowing the analysis to be locally conducted and owned. The WHO tool set seeks to fill this role in providing easy-to-use tools that outline principles that should be followed for priority setting and decision making. The use of these tools in an extensive and growing number of countries underlines the need for generating platforms that allow for skills building through local application. These are successful strategies for developing capacity to generate and share knowledge.
The structure of the session will cover technical presentations, on-screen tool demonstration, hands-on exercises, reflections from LMIC country users, as well as discussion in plenary. This format allows for participants to be actively involved and learn through reflection, discussion, and hands-on practise. In order to ensure that the facilitators can give individual support during the hands-on work, participants will be limited to 40 persons. We encourage participation by policy-makers, researchers, and advisors working in technical agencies.
Practical information
Venue: IHEA Congress conference venue
Time: Saturday 13 July 2019, 13.00-17.00.
Registration: through the IHEA website
For more information, please contact whochoice@who.int