health research

Overview

In collaboration with the University of Washington, The Center for Global Health Research, and the Public Health Foundation of India, the “Disease Control Priorities Network” (DCPN) project aims to improve the efficacy of health resource spending in various contexts around the globe. It evaluates the potential costs and benefits of allocating funding to a range of health service delivery platforms (such as hospitals and clinics), research and development of new health technologies, and new health interventions.

DCPN seeks to produce a consistent set of cost and cost-effectiveness estimates for health interventions around the world, as well as the tools required to calculate these estimates. In doing so, the network will produce definitive technical publications to inform national level and global level health policy-making, on the basis of extensive analytical work and consultations with technical experts and policy-makers from around the world. Within the overall framework, there are four project objectives: (1) inform allocation of resources across interventions and health service delivery platforms; (2) inform allocation of resources to scientific discovery and product development; (3) create a Disease Control Priorities Network (DCPN), comprising institutions in many countries; and (4) core analytics, methods, and management.

DCPN follows on the Disease Control Priorities Project, a joint effort of The World Bank, the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization, with substantial technical input from CDDEP researchers. Launched in 2001, DCPP was a four-year initiative to improve the health of people in developing countries by identifying disease control priorities based on scientific evidence and cost-effectiveness.

One of the products of the joint DCPP and DCPN efforts is Choosing Health: An Entitlement for All Indians, a report that outlines not only the major health concerns in India, but also a package of affordable, cost-effective interventions that would best address those concerns.