The Building Stronger Public Health Institutions and Systems (BIS) Program in Ghana
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Under the BIS program, NIPH is continuing long-term collaboration with Ghana to contribute to strengthening public health capacity within the Ghana Ministry of Health.
Aims of the BIS collaboration in Ghana
Within the BIS program we have two focus areas. Firstly, to help strengthen and promote evidence-informed decision making within the Ghana Ministry of Health, through the continued support in institutionalizing Health Technology Assessments (HTA) processes in the country. Together, we aim to follow the Ghana national HTA strategy by strengthening capacities for HTA and co-producing HTAs, with an initial focus on childhood cancers. Within this work, we aim to build strong and sustainable partnerships with relevant partners regarding HTA and closely related fields. Secondly, to promote health security capabilities within Ghana, in particular through supporting the University of Ghana develop its epidemiology program.
This collaboration is facilitated by the recruitment of two PhD students researching these two topics of HTA and health security, to be funded under the BIS program. Closer institutional collaboration between NIPH and its partner institutions will be facilitated through a Memorandum of Understanding and Collaboration Agreements.
History of Collaboration in Ghana
NIPH has a long history of collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Health and Universities in Ghana. In the last three years, for example, we have collaborated with the World Health Organization, the Ghana Health Service, and the University of Ghana in the Global Health Preparedness Program (GHPP). In 2018, NIPH joined the international decision support network (iDSI) where with support of partners at network and under the Norad-funded Comprehensive Approach Towards Global Universal Health Coverage project (Norad-UHC), we supported the Ministry of Health’s efforts to institutionalize HTA for strengthening evidence-based health priority setting and decision-making. In the Norad-UHC project, we conducted training and capacity building activities, produced public global goods (for example tools to assess HTA-capacity), and co-produced HTAs in support of the HTA Technical Working Group within the Ghana Ministry of Health.
NIPH Collaborative Team
- NIPH Country Coordinator: Lieke Fleur Heupink
- BIS Project Management Support : Aurelia India Neumark
- Expert Technical Support: Katrine Frønsdal, Emily Ann MacDonald, Petter Leinaas Heradstveit, Knut Nyfløt, Elizabeth Fleur Peacocke
