Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2017Designing an Optimal HIV Programme for South Africa
This 2017 study compares the traditional and a novel method of comparing cost-effectiveness interventions in …
This 2017 study compares the traditional and a novel method of comparing cost-effectiveness interventions in the context of HIV in South Africa, using a modeling approach. The authors argue that the assumptions of a) independence of interventions, and b) linear scale-up effects do not hold because South Africa has a large domestically funded HIV program with highly saturated coverage levels. The authors therefore aim to better allocate resources for HIV interventions in South Africa when…
Mathematical Models | Sub-Saharan Africa | Infectious Diseases | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Operations Research | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2017Policy Makers, the International Community and the Population: Case Study on HIV/AIDS
A four-period game is developed between a policy maker, the international community, and the population. …
A four-period game is developed between a policy maker, the international community, and the population. This research supplements, through implementing strategic interaction, earlier research analyzing "one player at a time." The first two players distribute funds between preventing and treating diseases. The population reacts by degree of risky behavior which may cause no disease, disease contraction, recovery, sickness/death. More funds to prevention implies less disease contraction but higher death rate given disease contraction. The cost…
Mathematical Models | Global | Infectious Diseases | Decision Psychology | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Systems | Global Governance | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2017Likelihood Approach for Calibration of Stochastic Epidemic Models
Stochastic transmission dynamic models are especially useful for studying the early emergence of novel pathogens …
Stochastic transmission dynamic models are especially useful for studying the early emergence of novel pathogens given the importance of chance events when the number of infectious individuals is small. However, methods for parameter estimation and prediction for these types of stochastic models remain limited. This paper describes a calibration and prediction framework for stochastic compartmental transmission models of epidemics. The proposed method applies a linear noise approximation to describe the size of the fluctuations, and…
Dynamic Transmission | Global | Infectious Diseases | Calibration/Validation | Dynamic Simulation | Health Systems | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2016Global Burden of Latent Tuberculosis Infection
Given the importance of controlling latent TB infection (LTBI) as part of the End TB …
Given the importance of controlling latent TB infection (LTBI) as part of the End TB Strategy for eliminating TB by 2050, the authors felt that changes in demography and scientific understanding, and progress in TB control, made it necessary to re-assess the global burden of LTBI. The authors used constructed trends in annual risk in infection to calculate the number and proportions of individuals infected, recently infected, and recently infected with isoniazid (INH)-resistant strains, aggregated…
Mathematical Models | Global | Infectious Diseases | Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2015Health Gains & Financial Risk Protection by Public Financing in Ethiopia: An ECEA
This article, published in the Lancet Global Health, aims to evaluate the health and financial …
This article, published in the Lancet Global Health, aims to evaluate the health and financial risk protection benefits of selected interventions that could be publicly financed by the government of Ethiopia. The authors used an extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) to assess the health gains (deaths averted) and financial risk protection afforded (cases of poverty averted) by a bundle of nine interventions that the Government of Ethiopia aims to make universally available. This approach incorporates financial…
Mathematical Models | Sub-Saharan Africa | Infectious Diseases | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine -
ReportPublication 2015Chapter 4: Cervical Cancer
This chapter focuses on the possibility of primary prevention of cervical cancer as a result …
This chapter focuses on the possibility of primary prevention of cervical cancer as a result of the introduction of two commercially available vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV). Few low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have initiated or sustained cytology-based cervical cancer prevention programs, and these countries experience very high incidence and mortality rates. Fortunately, alternative strategies to prevent cervical cancer have been investigated and extensively evaluated in these settings. The authors report findings from cost-effectiveness analyses…
Mathematical Models | Global | Infectious Diseases | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2015Controlling Measles Using Supplemental Immunization: A Mathematical Model
The Measles & Rubella Initiative, a broad consortium of global health agencies, has provided support …
The Measles & Rubella Initiative, a broad consortium of global health agencies, has provided support to measles-burdened countries, focusing on sustaining high coverage of routine immunization of children and supplementing it with a second dose opportunity for measles vaccine through supplemental immunization activities (SIAs). Authors estimate optimal scheduling of SIAs in countries with the highest measles burden using an age-stratified dynamic compartmental model of measles transmission. They explore the frequency of SIAs in order to achieve…
Dynamic Transmission | Asia & Pacific | Infectious Diseases | Health Outcomes | Health Systems | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2014Rise and Fall of HIV in High-Prevalence Countries: A Challenge for Mathematical Modeling
Several countries with generalized, high-prevalence HIV epidemics, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, have experienced rapid declines …
Several countries with generalized, high-prevalence HIV epidemics, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, have experienced rapid declines in transmission. These HIV epidemics, often with rapid onsets, have generally been attributed to a combination of factors related to high-risk sexual behavior. The subsequent declines in these countries began prior to widespread therapy or implementation of any other major biomedical prevention. This change has been construed as evidence of behavior change, often on the basis of mathematical models, but…
Mathematical Models | Sub-Saharan Africa | Infectious Diseases | Health Outcomes | Health/Medicine -
GuidelinesPublication 2011HPV Vaccine Introduction in LMIC's: Guidance on the Use of Cost-Effectiveness Models
This article is a literature review of HPV vaccination models suitable for low-income and middle-income …
This article is a literature review of HPV vaccination models suitable for low-income and middle-income country use to provide information about the feasibility of using such models in a developing country setting. The authors evaluated models in terms of their capacity, requirements, limitations and comparability. Their literature review identified six HPV vaccination models suitable for low-income and middle-income country use and representative of the literature in terms of provenance and model structure. Each model was…
Mathematical Models | Global | Infectious Diseases | Calibration/Validation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology