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Kentikelenis A, Ghaffar A, McKee M, Dal Zennaro L, Stuckler D. Global financing for health policy and systems research: a review of funding opportunities. Health Policy Plan 2023; 38:409-416. [PMID: 36546732 PMCID: PMC10019567 DOI: 10.1093/heapol/czac109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is a neglected area in global health financing. Despite repeated calls for greater investment, it seems that there has been little growth. We analysed trends in reported funding and activity between 2015 and 2021 using a novel real-time source of global health data, the Devex.com database, the world's largest source of funding opportunities related to international development. We performed a systematic search of the Devex.com database for HPSR-related terms with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. We included 'programs', 'tenders & grants' and 'contract awards', covering all call statuses (open, closed or forecast). Such funding opportunities were included if they were related specifically to HPSR funding or had an HPSR component; pure biomedical funding was excluded. Our findings reveal a relative neglect of HPSR, as only ∼2% of all global health funding calls included a discernible HPSR component. Despite increases in funding calls until 2019, this situation reversed in 2020, likely reflecting the redirection of resources to rapid assessments of the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Most identified projects represented small-scale opportunities-commonly for consultancies or technical assistance. To the extent that new data were generated, these projects were either tied to a specific large intervention or were narrow in scope to meet a specific challenge-with many examples informing policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly half of advertised funding opportunities were multi-country projects, usually addressing global policy priorities like health systems strengthening or development of coordinated public health policies at a regional level. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown why investing in HPSR is more important than ever to enable the delivery of effective health interventions and avoid costly implementation failures. The evidence presented here highlights the need to scale up efforts to convince global health funders to institutionalize the inclusion of HPSR components in all funding calls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Kentikelenis
- Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University, via Roentgen 1, Milan 20136, Italy
| | - Abdul Ghaffar
- Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Martin McKee
- Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, UK
| | - Livia Dal Zennaro
- Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - David Stuckler
- Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University, via Roentgen 1, Milan 20136, Italy
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Schleiff MJ, Rangnekar A, Oviedo Gomez F, Teddy G, Peters DH, Balabanova D. Towards Core Competencies for Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) Training: Results From a Global Mapping and Consensus-Building Process. Int J Health Policy Manag 2022; 11:1058-1068. [PMID: 33590742 PMCID: PMC9808165 DOI: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND As the field of health policy and systems research (HPSR) continues to grow, there is a recognition of the need for training in HPSR. This aspiration has translated into a multitude of teaching programmes of variable scope and quality, reflecting a lack of consensus on the skills and practices required for rigorous HPSR. The purpose of this paper is to identify an agreed set of core competencies for HPSR researchers, building on the previous work by the Health Systems Global (HSG) Thematic Working Group on Teaching & Learning. METHODS Our methods involved an iterative approach of four phases including a literature review, key informant interviews and group discussions with HPSR educators, and webinars with pre-post surveys capturing views among the global HPSR community. The phased discussions and consensus-building contributed to the evolution of the HPSR competency domains and competencies framework. RESULTS Emerging domains included understanding health systems complexity, assessing policies and programs, appraising data and evidence, ethical reasoning and practice, leading and mentoring, building partnerships, and translating and utilizing knowledge and HPSR evidence. The development of competencies and their application were often seen as a continuous process spanning evidence generation, partnering, communicating and helping to identify new critical health systems questions. CONCLUSION The HPSR competency set can be seen as a useful reference point in the teaching and practice of high-quality HPSR and can be adapted based on national priorities, the particularities of local contexts, and the needs of stakeholders (HPSR researchers and educators), as well as practitioners and policy-makers. Further research is needed in using the core competency set to design national training programmes, develop locally relevant benchmarks and assessment methods, and evaluate their use in different settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meike J. Schleiff
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Francisco Oviedo Gomez
- Ministry of Health, San José, Costa Rica
- School of Public Health, University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Gina Teddy
- Center for Health Systems and Policy Research at GIMPA, Accra, Ghana
| | - David H. Peters
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Ramírez-del Real T, Martínez-García M, Márquez MF, López-Trejo L, Gutiérrez-Esparza G, Hernández-Lemus E. Individual Factors Associated With COVID-19 Infection: A Machine Learning Study. Front Public Health 2022; 10:912099. [PMID: 35844896 PMCID: PMC9279686 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.912099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The fast, exponential increase of COVID-19 infections and their catastrophic effects on patients' health have required the development of tools that support health systems in the quick and efficient diagnosis and prognosis of this disease. In this context, the present study aims to identify the potential factors associated with COVID-19 infections, applying machine learning techniques, particularly random forest, chi-squared, xgboost, and rpart for feature selection; ROSE and SMOTE were used as resampling methods due to the existence of class imbalance. Similarly, machine and deep learning algorithms such as support vector machines, C4.5, random forest, rpart, and deep neural networks were explored during the train/test phase to select the best prediction model. The dataset used in this study contains clinical data, anthropometric measurements, and other health parameters related to smoking habits, alcohol consumption, quality of sleep, physical activity, and health status during confinement due to the pandemic associated with COVID-19. The results showed that the XGBoost model got the best features associated with COVID-19 infection, and random forest approximated the best predictive model with a balanced accuracy of 90.41% using SMOTE as a resampling technique. The model with the best performance provides a tool to help prevent contracting SARS-CoV-2 since the variables with the highest risk factor are detected, and some of them are, to a certain extent controllable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Ramírez-del Real
- Cátedras Conacyt, National Council on Science and Technology, Mexico City, Mexico
- Center for Research in Geospatial Information Sciences, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Mireya Martínez-García
- Clinical Research Division, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Manlio F. Márquez
- Clinical Research Division, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Laura López-Trejo
- Institute for Security and Social Services of State Workers, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Guadalupe Gutiérrez-Esparza
- Cátedras Conacyt, National Council on Science and Technology, Mexico City, Mexico
- Clinical Research Division, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Enrique Hernández-Lemus
- Computational Genomics Division, National Institute of Genomic Medicine, Mexico City, Mexico
- Center for Complexity Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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Velin L, Lartigue JW, Johnson SA, Zorigtbaatar A, Kanmounye US, Truche P, Joseph MN. Conference equity in global health: a systematic review of factors impacting LMIC representation at global health conferences. BMJ Glob Health 2021; 6:bmjgh-2020-003455. [PMID: 33472838 PMCID: PMC7818815 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Global health conferences are important platforms for knowledge exchange, decision-making and personal and professional growth for attendees. Neocolonial patterns in global health at large and recent opinion reports indicate that stakeholders from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be under-represented at such conferences. This study aims to describe the factors that impact LMIC representation at global health conferences. METHODS A systematic review of articles reporting factors determining global health conference attendance was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Articles presenting conference demographics and data on the barriers and/or facilitators to attendance were included. Articles were screened at title and abstract level by four independent reviewers. Eligible articles were read in full text, analysed and evaluated with a risk of bias assessment. RESULTS Among 8765 articles screened, 46 articles met inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis yielded two themes: 'barriers to conference attendance' and 'facilitators to conference attendance'. In total, 112 conferences with 254 601 attendees were described, of which 4% of the conferences were hosted in low-income countries. Of the 98 302 conference attendees, for whom affiliation was disclosed, 38 167 (39%) were from LMICs. CONCLUSION 'Conference inequity' is common in global health, with LMIC attendees under-represented at global health conferences. LMIC attendance is limited by systemic barriers including high travel costs, visa restrictions and lower acceptance rates for research presentations. This may be mitigated by relocating conferences to visa-friendly countries, providing travel scholarships and developing mentorship programmes to enable LMIC researchers to participate in global conferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lotta Velin
- Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Jean-Wilguens Lartigue
- Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- State University of Haiti Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Port-au-Prince, Ouest, Haiti
| | - Samantha Ann Johnson
- Medicine, Life Sciences & Psychology Department, University of Warwick, Coventry, West Midlands, UK
| | - Anudari Zorigtbaatar
- Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Québec, Canada
| | - Ulrick Sidney Kanmounye
- Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Kinshasa Faculty of Medicine, Kinshasa, Congo (the Democratic Republic of the)
| | - Paul Truche
- Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of General Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School New Brunswick, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Michelle Nyah Joseph
- Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, West Midlands, UK
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Jesus TS, Hoenig H, Landry MD. Development of the Rehabilitation Health Policy, Systems, and Services Research field: Quantitative Analyses of Publications over Time (1990-2017) and across Country Type. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:E965. [PMID: 32033180 PMCID: PMC7036950 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17030965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2020] [Revised: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Health policy, systems and services research (HPSSR) is increasingly needed to enable better access to, and value of, rehabilitation services worldwide. We aim to quantify the growth of Rehabilitation HPSSR publications since 1990, compared to that of overall rehabilitation research and overall HPSSR. METHODS Quantitative, comparative analysis of publication trends using the PubMed database and its indexation system. Comprehensive search filters, based on Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), were built and calibrated to locate research articles with content on HPSSR and rehabilitation of physical impairments. Additional filters were used for locating research publications declaring funding support, publications in rehabilitation journals, and finally publications focused on high-income (HICs) or low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The same approach was used for retrieving data on comparator fields-overall HPSSR and overall rehabilitation research. Linear regressions, with ANOVA, were used for analyzing yearly publication growths over the 28-year time frame. RESULTS Rehabilitation HPSSR publications in PubMed have grown significantly from 1990 to 2017 in the percentage of all rehabilitation research (from 11% to 18%) and all HPSSR (from 2.8% to 3.9%; both p < 0.001). The rate of Rehabilitation HPSSR published in rehabilitation journals did not change significantly over time (p = 0.47). The rates of publications with declared funding support increased significantly, but such growth did not differ significantly from that of the comparator fields. Finally, LMICs accounted for 9.3% of the country-focused rehabilitation HPSSR since 1990, but this percentage value increased significantly (p < 0.001) from 6% in 1990 to 13% in 2017. CONCLUSION Rehabilitation HPSSR publications, i.e., those indexed in PubMed with related MeSH terms, have grown in both absolute and relative values. Rehabilitation HPSSR publications focused on LMICs also grew significantly since 1990, but still remained a tiny portion of the Rehabilitation HPSSR publications with country-specific MeSH terms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago S. Jesus
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine & WHO Collaborating Center on Health Workforce Policy and Planning, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine-NOVA University of Lisbon, 1349-008 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Helen Hoenig
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA;
- Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Michel D. Landry
- School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA;
- Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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