Course in Economic Research Methods in LMICs

Training Courses in Economic Research Methods offered in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (ongoing)

In 2022, we have not made any formal missions specifically for research capacity building. This reflects in part the COVID-19 situation and the lack of specific funding support for this activity.

However, on routine visits to research sites in Benin, Vietnam and Indonesia we have included a research training component. In each country we provided one-day intensive courses in systematic reviews. These were attended by members of academia and TB programme personnel.

We have also planned training in economic analysis and costing in several LMIC, but this has not yet led to any specific missions. This training programme is now consolidated (reading material, recorded presentations etc.).

Course Aims 

• Understand the relevance of economic analysis to public health research;
• Develop a rigorous protocol for an economic analysis of a public health research question;
• Identify accurate sources of data on costs needed for a specific re-search question, within a coherent framework;
• Improve the application of « top-down » and « bottom-up » costing approaches to obtain suitable data and;
• Collate and analyze the collected costs.

Target participants (8-12 participants, i.e. 4-6 pairs each bringing together one academic participant and one programme participant): senior managers, TB research focal persons, and practitioners in public health programmes, including TB programmes, and faculty and students from universities in LMIC. If a « regional » course is given, then the programmes and universities will be located in that region (e.g. West Africa, Central Africa, or all of Sub-Saharan Africa, etc.).

To enhance long term collaboration between academic and TB programme personnel, two participants from each country will be recruited, consisting of one participant from academia (e.g. university) and one participant from a public health programme (e.g. national TB programme).