IHEA News – March 2022

iHEA Mentoring Program Midterm Survey

The iHEA mentoring program is in the middle of its third round. At the beginning of this round in September 2021, 64 mentor-mentee pairings had been matched. To learn about the mentors’ and mentees’ experiences so far and to direct future interactions, a midterm survey was sent out to all participants in February 2022. Overall, 23 mentors and 17 mentees from all around the globe responded to the survey (see Fig. 1).The majority of pairings had had one or two meetings with video calls being the preferred mode of contact. Giving and receiving advice as well as discussing future career directions were major topics both mentors and mentees liked about the mentoring program so far (see Fig. 2). The survey also encouraged participants to provide any suggestions for improvement of the program. The next round of the mentoring program will begin later this year and a call for expressions will be circulated in a few months’ time. Keep updated here.

Call for Webinars Abstracts – Financing for Universal Health Coverage SIG

The Financing for Universal Health Coverage Special Interest Group (SIG) brings together a network of health economists specialising in health financing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), with a particular focus on financing reforms to support the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). More specifically, we seek to:

1. Foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between health economists specialising in health financing in LMICs;

2.Strengthen the analytical capacity for health financing research – especially amongst early-mid career researchers and women in LMICs;

3.Share and critique latest methods for conducting equity-focused evaluations of health financing reforms and systems;

4.Contribute to international policy debates on financing for universal health coverage; and

5. Share educational resources and materials among members and more broadly.

One of the key activities of the group is the organisation of regular webinars throughout the year to promote exchange by sharing lessons learnt and new research ideas. Our goal is to foster diversity of topics and approaches as well as representation from a diverse group of researchers, including from LMICs.

We invite the submission of abstracts for seminars, which should include the following information:

  • Presenter (s) name and contact details
  • Max 500 words including title, background and objectives, methods, results, conclusions.
  • Description of seminar, for example if the presenter wishes to suggest a discussant or specific modalities for interaction with the audience.

Submissions are invited by 15th of April 2022 and can be made to Manon Haemmerli.

Abstracts will be assessed based on technical content, relevance of the topic for the SIG, diversity of presenters including representation from LMIC. We would also welcome submissions from doctoral students who are seeking input from the community of UHC financing researchers on their thesis research. Those submitting will be contacted within two weeks from submission deadline. The convenors will liaise with the presenters of selected abstracts for the organization of the webinar. There is flexibility in terms of the format of webinars although we recommend no more than 2-3 presenters, allowing a minimum of 20 minutes for discussion, and that the session runs for 1 hour (with an option to extend to 1.5 hours where warranted).

This will be a rolling call and members interested in presenting are invited to get in touch throughout the year.

Please also note that membership of the SIG is open to iHEA members who are working and/or studying in the field of health financing. Membership can be requested by logging in to the iHEA website, selecting the “groups” section and clicking “request to join” by the SIG name. Membership is approved by the convenor(s) of the SIG.

Launch of The Lancet Global Health Commission on Financing PHC in LMICs, 5 April 2022

Please join the launch of The Lancet Global Health Commission on Financing Primary Health Care on Tuesday 5 April at 13:00 London / 14:00 Geneva / 15:00 Nairobi / 17:30 Delhi.

Covid-19 has created a health and fiscal crisis, highlighting the dangers that societies face without well-functioning primary health care systems that protect everyone through the provision of essential health services; preventing and treating chronic conditions; and taking a frontline role in responding to epidemics. A strong primary health care system is the pre-requisite for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Lancet Global Health Commission on Financing Primary Health Care (PHC) has examined key challenges to identify proven ways of strengthening financing for PHC in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Commission is steered by 22 expert members from 19 countries and features new evidence and analyses that point to actionable policies to support LMICs in raising, allocating, and channelling resources in support of the delivery of effective, efficient, and equitable, people-centred PHC.

We hope that you will join the launch of the Commission’s report on Tuesday 5 April, which will feature contributions from Commission members as well other figures from policy and practice from around the world.

Call for Proposals DE GRUYTER STUDIES IN HEALTH ECONOMICS

De Gruyter Studies in Health Economics is a new series of research books in health economics, with each book providing a detailed study of one aspect of health economics. The series will take an international focus, with global interest. This means that each book will be relevant to multiple readers in different countries, not that it will comprise a series of country-specific books. The series will cover every aspect of health economics: theoretical, empirical and methodological, including issues related to the provision of and demand for health care and health care markets at the micro and macro levels, behavioural health economics, health economic evaluation, health financing, and health econometrics. Each book in the series will provide state of the art thinking around each topic, including theoretical considerations and current evidence and literature. However, the series will not include texts that are simply literature reviews. The series will encourage gender diversity and representation from low-, middle- and high-income countries. Book proposals that explore the nexus between health economics research and health policy will be looked upon favourably. We are looking for interesting and innovative proposals from people who are interested in writing books for this series, as sole, multi-author or edited volumes. The Series Editors would be very happy to hear from you and answer any questions you may have about the series. 

The series editors are Professor David Parkin City, University of London, UK and Professor Virginia Wiseman University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia & London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine, London, UK. If you are interested in submitting a proposal please contact us at HealthEconomicsEditors@outlook.com.

Global Health Courses at the Johns Hopkins Health Systems Summer Institute

Choose from 19 short-term courses during June 6–18, 2022. Both online and in-person courses are available.The Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is hosting a Health Systems Summer Institute. The Institute is a great opportunity for early- to mid-career public health professionals to expand their skill sets and improve job performance.

They have a reduced rate for those taking the courses for non-credit. The reduced price is $200 per credit. Most of the courses are 2–3 credits.

19 courses will be offered, including two health economics courses:

– Globalization and health: Framework for analysis,June 6–9, 1:30 p.m. Taught by Andres Vecino-Ortiz

Disease and program costing in global health programs, June 13–18, 1:30–4:30 p.m. Taught by Gatien de Broucker

Other topics include global health technology and innovation, primary health care, humanitarian health, measurement and analytics for health systems strengthening, health systems management, health policy, and more. Take as many courses as you’d like.

View the complete schedule and course descriptions.

Information on tuition and how to register can be found here.

Past Webinar Recordings

If you are worried you will be unable to attend our webinars live or would like to revisit a recording of a webinar, you can visit our website to view our past webinar recordings page. We request members and non-members to register for webinars only if they are planning on attending the webinar live.

iHEA Career Center

The iHEA Career Center allows you to post your job openings and fellowships, find potential candidates and search new positions. It is open to members and non-members alike. We do hope that you utilize this tool and should you have any questions, please reach out to jobs@healtheconomics.org.