Designup

Category: Ongoing Projects

  • Building Institutional Capacity for HPSR and Delivery Science- CIF is Europe region HUB

    General Overview

    The evidence-informed decision making in health still remains a major challenge. To strengthen institutional capacity in different countries around the globe the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR) launched the new program to strengthen the capacity of local teaching/research and policy institutions in six low- and middle- income countries in each WHO region, to embed high-quality training in HPSR, target both researchers and decision makers. The Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center at American University of Beirut is lead mentor institution who will guide 6 mentee institutions around the world, Curatio International Foundation (CIF) acts as mentee institution for the European region.

    Purpose of the Program

    Strengthen the capacity of researchers and policymakers and their respective institutions to support evidence-informed decision-making in health.

     

    Expected outputs
    • Institutions that have the systems, processes and the right culture to support and facilitate evidence-informed decision-making in health in LMICs
    • Policymakers who recognize the role of evidence in informing different stages of the policymaking process and capacity to access, appraise and use evidence to inform decision-making in health
    • Researchers who understand the policymaking process and who have the skills and competencies to provide relevant, context-sensitive and timely HPSR and evidence to inform decision-making in health.

     

    Expected impact
    • A cadre of sustainable policymaking and research/knowledge institutions that champion the use of evidence in health policymaking, and that can serve as focal mentors to develop the capacity of other institutions within their respective countries and regions (i.e., ripple effect)
    • Strengthened evidence-informed decision-making in health in LMICs
    • Ultimately, by promoting the use of research, evidence, and data in policymaking and practice, the program will contribute to strengthening health systems, improving population health outcomes, reducing health care expenditures, and accelerating the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs)
    • Establish and nurture critical links and collaborations between and researchers and policymakers

     

    Donors and Partners

    Lead partner: Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center (American University of Beirut)
    Donor: WHO, the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR)

    Geographical Coverage

    Georgia and Europe Region (as defined by WHO).

     

    Project Timeline

    The project started in September 2018 and will run until May 2020.

  • Hosting Health Systems Global Secretariat

    Introduction and Overview

    Health Systems Global (HSG) is the first international membership organization fully dedicated to promoting health systems research and knowledge translation.

    Starting from March 1st, 2015 Curatio International Foundation hosts the HSG secretariat, which was previously housed in the Center for Health and Infectious Disease Research at the University of Copenhagen.

    Dr. George Gotsadze, Director and President of Curatio International Foundation assumed the role of the Executive Director of Health Systems Global. He leads secretariat together with the communications team from  Institute of Development Study (Brighton, UK) and strives for the HSG to become a stronger society.

    CIF will hand over secretariat management to another LMIC country in 2020.

    HSG Financial Supporters Since 2015 

    Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research

    Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

    Canadian Institute for Health Research

    China Medical Board

    Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

    Global Affairs Canada

    Global Ideas Fund at CAF America

    International Development Research Centre, Canada

    Rockefeller Foundation

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

    Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

    USAID

    Wellcome Trust

    Project Objectives and Contributions

    To connect health systems research and policy communities globally to contribute to the attainment of better health, equity, and well-being.

    About the Global Symposia

    Health Systems Global organizes a symposium every two years to bring together its members with the full range of players involved in health systems and policy research. There is currently no other international gathering that serves the needs of this community.

    The venue chosen for each meeting facilitates inclusion of participants from a specific part of the world and a focus on that region, although each is a global meeting in terms of content and representation. Each symposium is determined to:

    • Share new state-of-the-art evidence;
    • Review the progress and challenges towards implementation of the global agenda of priority research;
    • Identify and discuss the approaches to strengthen the scientific rigour of health systems research including concepts, frameworks, measures, and methods;
    • Facilitate greater research collaboration and learning communities across disciplines, sectors, initiatives, and countries.

    Previous global symposia were held in Montreux, 2010, Beijing 2012, Cape Town 2014, Vancouver 2016 and the fifth one will take place in Liverpool during October 8-12, 2018 and is expected to bring together around 3000 global participants.

    Detailed information about the 5th global symposium on the Health Systems Research is available on the website.

  • Technical Assistance to Evaluate HIV Monitoring and Evaluation System in the Republic of Moldova

    Introduction and Overview

    The evaluation is expected to comprehensively assess the HIV Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system aimed to standardizing the reporting forms, build the national information flow within HIV related organizations, developing the national M&E System and Plan. The evaluation has to provide recommendations for improvement of M&E System, enhance its quality and comprehensiveness, including coordination and sustainability of the system.

    The evaluation will assess the HIV/AIDS M&E system, type of indicators and data flows starting from the first service contact level up to the national level, between different sectors and with particular emphasis on Prednestrovya region. The evaluation will last by the end of November, 2017.

    Organizations involved in the research

    Public Institution “Coordination, Implementation and Monitoring Unit of the  Health  System Projects” is implementing the project, funded by The Global Fund. Partners of the project are Ministry of Health (MoH) and other sectorail ministries under the leadership of the National Coordination Council of Moldova.

    The HIV Monitoring and Evaluation is one part of the project fulfilled by Curatio International Foundation.

    Expected Results

    The Program Management structure, regional health authorities, health and other service providers will largely benefit from enhanced and comprehensive M&E system, for which the evaluation will formulate recommendations.

  • Results4TB: Designing and evaluating provider Results Based Financing for Tuberculosis in Georgia

    [vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

    Introduction and Overview

    Curatio International Foundation in partnership with Queen Margaret University (UK), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) and Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium) is implementing a study “Designing and evaluating provider results-based financing for tuberculosis care in Georgia: understanding costs, mechanisms of effect and impact”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

    Visit the project website

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The 48-month duration research project will assist the Government of Georgia in developing a provider incentive payment scheme for Tuberculosis (as a pilot intervention) and will generate evidence on its effects on adherence and treatment success rates and costs.

    The research will seek to answer the following research questions:

    (1) What is the impact of provider-focused Results-Based Financing (RBF) on patients’ adherence to tuberculosis treatment and treatment outcomes of both Drug-Susceptible (DS) and Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) patients in Georgia?

    (2) Is the RBF intervention cost-effective?

    (3) How does it work, for whom and in which conditions? and

    (4) How should RBF be modified to optimize national roll-out for this and possibly other health services?

    Project has launched in March 2017 and will run till March 2021[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][ultimate_spacer height=”30″][vc_column_text]

    Organizations involved in the research

    The project is funded through the Joint Health Systems Research Initiative which is jointly funded by the Department of International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust (WT).

    The study will be implemented by CIF (Georgia), Queen Margaret University (UK), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) and Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium).

     

    Expected Results and Their Application

    The beneficiaries of this research will be TB patients, nurses and physicians involved in TB care, health facility managers, policy-makers, community members and the scientific community in Georgia, in the region and globally.

    The research will narrow the knowledge gap existing around RBF interventions, such as their application in public/private settings and their cost-effectiveness, the conditions of success and the wider (negative and positive) consequences of the scheme.

    The research will also produce methodological innovation regarding the use of realist evaluation alongside cost-effectiveness analysis.

    The evidence produced through this research will be used by national policy-makers to reform the financing of primary health schemes in a way that improves efficiency, quality, and sustainability of services. Additionally, findings will be beneficial for other LMICs, particularly for those with a similar vertical organization of TB services (most of the former Socialist countries of Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia) and for countries where private providers play an important role in the provision of TB services

     

    Would you like to be updated about the project achievements?

    The Results4tb project has its own website. Visit the page to learn more about the project.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • Designing and evaluating provider results-based financing for tuberculosis care in Georgia (RBF4TB)

    Introduction and Overview

    CIF in partnership with Queen Margaret University (UK), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) and Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium) is implementing a study “Designing and evaluating provider results-based financing for tuberculosis care in Georgia: understanding costs, mechanisms of effect and impact”. The 48-month research project will assist the Government of Georgia in developing a provider incentive payment scheme for Tuberculosis. It will generate evidence on its effects on adherence and treatment success rates and costs.

    The research will seek to answer the following research questions:

    (1) What is the impact of provider-focused Results-Based Financing (RBF) on patients, adherence to tuberculosis treatment and treatment outcomes of both Drug-Susceptible (DS) and Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) patients in Georgia?

    (2) Is the RBF intervention cost-effective?

    (3) How does it work, for whom and in which conditions?

    (4) How should RBF be modified to optimize national roll-out for this and possibly other health services?

    Project has launched in March 2017 and will run till March 2021.

    Organizations involved in the research

    The project is funded through the Joint Health Systems Research Initiative, which is jointly funded by the Department of International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust (WT).

    The study will be implemented by CIF (Georgia), Queen Margaret University (UK), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) and Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium).

    Expected Results and Their Application

    The beneficiaries of this research will be TB patients, nurses and physicians involved in TB care, health facility managers, policy-makers, community members and the scientific community in Georgia, in the region and globally.

    The research will narrow the knowledge gap existing around RBF interventions, such as their application in public/private settings and their cost-effectiveness, the conditions of success and the wider (negative and positive) consequences of the scheme.

    The research will also produce methodological innovation regarding the use of realist evaluation alongside cost effectiveness analysis.

    National policy-makers will use the evidence produced through this research to reform the financing of primary health schemes in a way that improves efficiency, quality and sustainability of services. Additionally, findings will be beneficial for other LMICs, particularly for those with a similar vertical organization of TB services (most of the former Socialist countries of Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia) and for countries where private providers play an important role in the provision of TB services.

     

  • TB and AIDS Management Programs Transition and Sustainability Plan Development Project

    Introduction and Overview

    The Global Fund is one the major donor organization for TB, AIDS and Malaria programs management worldwide. It has operated in Georgia since 2003. Many achievements have been met thanks to the Global Fund. These include malaria elimination (since 2011), as well as universal HIV and TB diagnosis and treatment.

    However, beginning in July of 2016, the Global Fund halted the funding of those active programs in Georgia, and transitioned to the New Funding Model (NFM), which will last for up to a three-year period. After the transition, Georgia will be responsible for increasing the financing for those program components, which were covered by the GF funding. Taking this into account, it is crucial to have a detailed plan for the transition period and its sustainability, which will describe the whole transition process from the donor in detail.

    The main goal of this project is the development of Transition and Sustainability Plan (TSP) for TB and AIDS management programs, and to achieve the commitments taken from the Global Fund established for the period of 2012-2017. The Curatio International Foundation assists multiple countries in the assessment of their transition ability from the Global Fund. CIF also assesses the transition and sustainability plan development process. CIF’s existing experience and background in this capacity, gives us an opportunity to conduct this project successfully in Georgia.

    Organizations involved in the research

    The Curatio International Foundation is the main implementer of the project. NCDC&PH represents the main stakeholder. The project also involves the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAAC), which discusses and comments on the project deliverables.

    Expected Results and Their Application

    We expect the following outputs:

    1. The creation of a TSP framework approved by the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and the Policy and Advocacy Council (PAAC);
    2. TSP document approved by CCM and PAAC;
    3. A transition and sustainability action plan approved by CCM and PAAC.

    After achieving these results, Georgia will have a detailed action plan for the transition from Global Fund funding, and the sustainability of TB and AIDS programs management, without donor support. The plan will be evaluated at the end of 2017, and will be revised if necessary.

  • TB Community Systems Strengthening (TBCSS) Project in Georgia

    Introduction and Overview

    The Curatio International Foundation has been designated a Round 7 Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS) grantee. CFCS, funded by the Stop TB partnership, is a mechanism that provides grants to technically sound, innovative interventions, to support the engagement of communities in national tuberculosis (TB) responses. With the following objectives, the goal for CFCS Round 7 is to strengthen community responses that are integrated and part of a comprehensive response to TB.

    Organisations Involved

    CIF will implement the TB Community Systems Strengthening (TBCSS) project in Georgia funded by the Stop TB partnership.

    Expected Results and Their Application

    The overarching goal of the TBCSS project is to build-up integrated and comprehensive responses to TB that are patient-centered, and include a strong partnership with communities and civil society. The project will have three main objectives.

    1: To assess the legal and social environment, the capacity of civil society, and the gaps and needs for engaging civil society in the TB community response; 2: to improve organizational strength for the sustainable development of civil society in the TB field; 3: Improve the links, coordination and networking of TB constituencies, civil society organizations, as well as state and other actors. These objectives will be achieved in two phases. In addition, we will provide updated information about the activities and achievements obtained throughout the lifecycle of the project.

  • What can be done to improve treatment adherence among tuberculosis patients in Georgia: A look through the health system lens

    Introduction and Overview

    The Curatio International Foundation has implemented a new research project that aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the factors associated with loss in follow-up among TB patients.

    The project has two main objectives. The first is to generate evidence that will inform policy on measures to reduce loss to follow-up among TB patients. The project also has two sub objectives: Objective 1.1 is to identify, determine and describe factors that enhance or undermine treatment adherence among TB patients, and Objective 1.2 is to develop recommendations based on research evidence aimed at policymakers and involved stakeholders. The second main objective aims to disseminate the study findings to a wider audience in the Eastern European Region for its further replication. The study outcome will inform policymakers and provide evidence-based recommendations. The results will be disseminated regionally via events dedicated to TB. CIF will provide information about all key activities and results during the study’s implementation.

    Organizations involved in the research

    The project is funded under the Joint TDR/EURO Small Grants Scheme for Implementation Research in Infectious Diseases. This scheme funds specific research projects in diseases of poverty, which cover infectious diseases, and the culture and environment that contribute to these problems. It also supports the development of individuals and institutions in the countries where these diseases are prevalent.