WHO-EMRO is collaborating with the DCPN to promote health economic evaluation as a tool for priority setting in the health sector in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). This collaboration aims to build national and regional capacities in the area of health economic evaluation to conduct research to generate evidence on the economics of health and health care in EMR, focusing on the five priorities of WHO-EMRO’s work with its member states:
- Health system strengthening
- Non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
- Communicable diseases
- Maternal and child health
- Emergency medicine
As part of this collaboration, a website was launched on March 23rd on the WHO EzCollab platform. More than thirty members have already accepted invitations to the community of practice website which functions in many ways like a Facebook page. Members are able to conduct discussions about economic evaluation and other topics, access information and reference materials, make announcements, and distribute information easily to all members of the community. The website is being monitored by EMRO and DCP staff but all members have free access to posting and sharing materials. Membership to the site is by invitation only so if anyone would like to join, or know of someone who would like to join, please contact Patrick Papania at papaniap@who.int.