Research and capacity building in Pacific Region
A/Prof Natalie Carvalho, assisted by Mr Fulgence Niyibitegeka, led a one-day short-course on the 5th of December 2023 to representatives of Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and Fiji National University. The training combined both lectures, practical exercises, and interactive discussions to enable the deep understanding of the different concepts. The training was delivered in hybrid mode both online and in-person. The in-person was facilitated by Mr. Fulgence Niyibitegeka.
The workshop covered key aspects of health economics and economic evaluation relevant to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction and dosing schedules in Fiji. The topics included an introduction to health economics, understanding different economic evaluation types, including cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis, methods for measuring costs in economic evaluations, various health economic outcomes, and the intricacies of modelling choices and uncertainty.
There was a particular emphasis on developing models for cost-effectiveness analysis and calibrating them with specific data from Fiji to enhance their accuracy. This included exploring decision trees, Markov and dynamic models, highlighting their relevance in evaluating healthcare interventions. Practical exercises aimed at solidifying the theoretical knowledge. The workshop received positive feedback with 100% of attendees reported improved knowledge in economic evaluation.
As part of his research on the cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis on 1+1 Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine schedule in Fiji, Mr. Fulgence Niyibitegeka travelled to Fiji from the 27th of November to the 6th of December 2023. The objectives of the trip were to oversee the study's commencement and sensitisation to all stakeholders, training of research assistants, quality checks of research tools, and initial data collection. During his trip, Mr. Fulgence held meetings in Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Nausori Health Centre, Fiji Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Services Centre, Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Fiji Expanded Programme on Immunisation team, the Fiji Program Support Facility, and Fiji National University to discuss about his research project. All trip’s objectives were achieved and the first recruitment for the study was on the 6th of December 2023 as planned.
