Abstract
Public health authorities around the world are increasingly using economic evaluation to set priorities and inform decision making in health policy, especially in the development of health benefit packages. Nevertheless, researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) encounter many barriers when conducting economic evaluations. In 2015, the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program identified key technical and context-specific challenges faced in conducting and using health economic evaluations in LMICs. On the basis of these research findings, the Guide to Economic Analysis and Research (GEAR) online resource (www.gear4health.com) was developed as a reliable aid to researchers in LMICs that would help overcome those challenges. Funded by the Thailand Research Fund and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GEAR is a free online resource that provides a visual aid tool for planning economic evaluation studies (GEAR mind maps), a repository of national and international economic evaluation guidelines (GEAR guideline comparison), and an active link to a network of volunteer international experts (GEAR: Ask an expert). GEAR will evolve over time to provide relevant, reliable, and up-to-date information through inputs from its users (e.g., periodic survey on methodological challenges) and experts (e.g., in responding to users’ questions). The objective of this commentary was to give a brief description of the development and key features of this unique collective information hub aimed at facilitating high-quality research and empowering health care decision makers and stakeholders to use economic evaluation evidence.
Highlights
A critical component in health care priority setting, in particular in the development of benefit packages, is the assessment of the value for money
Studies conducted in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) note that there is a lack of trained researchers with analytic skills and experience [4,5,6,7,8,9], unavailability of methodological guidelines [4,5], absence of an institutionalized research environment [4,5,6,7,8,9], and less awareness of application of evidence-based policymaking among researchers and decision makers [5,6,7,8,9]
The Guide to Economic Analysis and Research (GEAR)—an online resource developed by the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP)—intends to become an important aid to health technology assessment (HTA) practitioners in LMICs
Summary
A critical component in health care priority setting, in particular in the development of benefit packages, is the assessment of the value for money. The Guide to Economic Analysis and Research (GEAR)—an online resource developed by the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP) (www.gear4health.com)—intends to become an important aid to HTA practitioners in LMICs. Available free of charge, GEAR provides a guide to addressing the challenges that researchers in LMICs face when conducting and using economic evaluations.
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