Dr Sam Hollingworth: Health Technology Assessment in LMIC

Speaker:

Dr Sam Hollingworth

Abstract:

Many counties have committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 3.8 says “achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential healthcare services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.”  So, how do you do this, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) where there are fewer resources? Many countries have started (or are working towards) national health insurance schemes (like Medicare in Australia) which provides subsidised services and medicines for their population. Health technology assessment (HTA) is the process to make evidence-based decision about how best to spend public monies. This is especially important in the context of declining donor funding. This seminar will profile the work in Ghana of the International Decision Support Initiative (idsihealth.org) - a global network of health, policy and economic expertise focussed on increasing the value and impact of health spending. Ghana is a country on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa and is a beacon for HTA in sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaker bio:

Dr Sam Hollingworth is an academic at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Queensland. She has an honorary appointment at Imperial College London (sabbatical in 2018). Her research focuses on medicines and health systems. She works with an extensive network of clinicians and health professionals to investigate the use of medicines and adverse effects in cancer, psychiatry, neurology, internal medicine, and general practice. Sam works on economic evaluations and health technology assessment (HTA). She has an active interest in health systems and health services research, with a particular focus on low and middle-income countries (LMIC) and non-communicable diseases (NCD).Sam worked as a consultant in HTA in Australia for many years evaluating submissions to subsidise medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). She has worked on international health projects in Indonesia and is currently working on several HTA projects in Ghana.

Sam coordinates, lectures, and tutors in undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She is an advisor on diverse PhD and student research projects. Sam has studied and worked in Brisbane (UQ), London (Imperial College), Melbourne (Monash), Toronto (Mt Sinai Hospital), and Kumasi, Ghana (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology).