Noguchi Department Memorial of Institute for Ambulatory Medical Care and Research Prevention Medicines and Insurance Coverage (MedIC) Initiative Course in Pharmaceutical Policy Analysis Accra, Ghana, 16-25 November 2008 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Osei B. Acheampong Director of Operations National Health Insurance Council Private Mail Bag, Ministries Post Office Accra, Ghana E-mail: [email protected] Mr. Osei B. Acheampong is the Director of Research and Development (R&D) at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA). Mr. Acheampong heads the directorate that is responsible for developing systems to facilitate the implementation of health insurance in Ghana; monitor the operation of the systems for compliance, review and policy initiation; and initiate policies to improve health insurance and healthcare as a whole. During the past fourteen years, Mr. Acheampong has been involved in healthcare working for health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance regulatory agencies, and a major teaching hospital. Prior to joining NHIA, Mr. Acheampong developed contracting and marketing strategies to market pharmaceutical products to hospitals and health insurance companies. Prior thereto, Mr. Acheampong worked for health insurance companies where he managed provider networks, and developed and managed drug formularies. Mr. Acheampong has a Master of Science degree in Health Policy and Management from Harvard School of Public Health, specializing in health financing, insurance, and international health. He did graduate work in Business Management at Yale School of Management, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies and Health Economics from Brown University. COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Dr. Daniel Kojo Arhinful, PhD Research Fellow, Department of Epidemiology Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research University of Ghana P. O. Box LG 581 Legon, Accra GHANA Tel: +233 21 501180 Fax: +233 21 502182 Email: [email protected] Dr. Daniel Kojo Arhinful is a Research Fellow at the Epidemiology Department at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), a constituent of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana. He holds a doctorate in Medical Anthropology from the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam. His previous training was in Sociology from the University of Ghana. Dr Arhinful’s career has mainly involved principal roles as health social scientist into research on health and social problems of national and international importance. His key areas of research specialization are social health insurance where he wrote his doctorate thesis, social security and migration, use of medicines, chronic illness in African communities and maternal health. He collaborates in research work with local and foreign scientists and organizations and involved in supervision of post graduate students and training of research staff. He is a founding member and secretary of the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) –Ghana and a member of the country working group of the WHO/HAI/MOH Africa regional collaboration on access to medicines. Among his current research projects is “Reaching the poor in Ghana’s National Health Insurance which aims to design and evaluate interventions to stimulate enrollment of the poor in Ghana’s National Health Insurance. 2 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Dr. Anna Bucsics, Dr. med. Pharmacology, Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals, Main Association of Austrian Social Security Institutions Email: [email protected] Anna Bucsics has a medical degree from the the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Austria (Europe). Her postgraduate training and research work was at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Graz in neuropharmacology. She passed the Special Examination (“Besondere Fachprüfung”) qualifying for managerial positions within the Austrian Social Insurance system with excellent results (highest grade). She worked as a consultant for the Main Association of Austrian Social Security Institutions and as auditor for pharmaceutical expenditures at the Viennese Social Health Insurance Fund. Currently, she is Vice Department Head, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Main Association of Austrian Social Security Institutions. In this position, she is responsible for management of applications for inclusion into the “Heilmittelverzeichnis”, resp. “Erstattungskodex” (Positive List). She is an instructor at the Center of Financial Services and Public Utility Management, University of Vienna and occasional lecturer at the Vienna School of Clinical Research. 3 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Moses Chisale, BSc (Mlw), Doct. Pharm (Dijon), CUPhcology (Paris VII). Regional Advisor, WHO / AFRO Essential Medicines Program, Inter country Support Team (Central Africa) P.O. Box 820, Libreville. Gabon Tel 241 07754067 E-mail : [email protected] Malawian, fluent in English and French, Dr. Moses Chisale is a French trained Pharmacist (1986). After a short community pharmacy practice in Montbard, France, he was Hospital Pharmacist then Principal Hospital Pharmacist at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi (1987-1992). He also taught Pharmacology at the Medical Assistants Training School. He did a University Certificate in Pharmacology at the Lariboisiere Saint Louis School of Medicine, University of Paris VII with a concurrent attachment in the Department of Pharmacology of Cochin Hospital in Paris. Since April 1993, he is the Regional Advisor for WHO Essential Medicines Program in the African Region. He is principally involved in providing technical advice and direct technical assistance to countries for the development and implementation of various aspects of national medicine policies (management, access / supply, quality assurance, rational use). He spearheaded the production of Guidelines for the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national drug policies in 2001 (currently being revised). He has in particular provided direct technical assistance for the development and / or implementation of national medicines policies in the following countries: Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Togo. In 2000 he initiated and continues to publish the AFRO Pharmaceuticals Newsletter. He led a team of experts to produce the AFRO Training Manual on the Management of Drugs at Health Centre Level in 2001 (now being revised) as well as the first Guidelines for the Prevention and Clinical Management of Snakebite in Africa between 2005 and 2008 (pending publication). Currently he is also focal point for the implementation of the Good Governance for Medicines Program in the African Region. 4 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Abayneh Tamer Desta (B.Pharm, MSc) Technical Officer Essential Medicines Program Division of Health Systems and Services Development WHO Regional Office for Africa Email: [email protected] Mr. Desta is a graduate Pharmacist with Msc. in health economics. Mr. Desta has assumed various positions in the Ministry of Health, nongovernment and international organizations in his home country, Ethiopia and overseas. Mr. Desta has more than two decades of work experience in the area of essential medicines. Since 2001, Mr. Desta has been working as a Technical Officer in the Regional Program for Essential Medicines, Division of Health Systems and Services Development at the WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. 5 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Dr Alex N. O. Dodoo Senior Research Fellow Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics University of Ghana Medical School P. O. Box 4236 Accra, Ghana Email: [email protected] OR [email protected] Tel/Fax: +233 21 668219 Cell: +233 244 255 064 Dr Alexander Nii Oto Dodoo is a Senior Research Fellow and the Acting Director at the Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (CTCPT) of the University of Ghana Medical School. He undertook his undergraduate (B. Pharm degree) at the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana and his postgraduate training (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) at the Department of Pharmacy, King’s College London. UK. Dr Dodoo worked as a Senior Scientist at Roche Discovery Welwyn, UK from 1996-1998 and as a community pharmacist in England in 1999. His main research interests are in pharmacovigilance including safety monitoring of vaccines, anti-malarials and anti-retrovirals. He is the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana and also President of the Pharmacy Information Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation and the co-Chairman of the Ghana Chapter of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA). He a member of the Executive Committee of the Intentional Society of Pharmacovigilance and a Member of the Advisory Committee on Focus on Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (FACT) of the DNDi. He has been involved in writing and editing the Standard Treatment Guidelines of Ghana since 2000. 6 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Kwesi Eghan Director Medview Pharma Services P.0 Box KN279 Kaneshi Accra, Ghana Telephone: + 00 233 35 7106 Email [email protected] or [email protected] Mr. Eghan is currently serving as Senior Technical Advisor /Country Manager for the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) Project in Ghana. MSH is a health development organization based in Arlington, VA, USA. He is also currently a board member of the National Health Insurance Authority of Ghana (NHIA) and the Chairman of Tariffs and Medicines the sub committee of the NHIA Prior to this role, Mr. Eghan served as the Country Director for Family Health International (FHI) in Ghana where he managed and provided leadership for all of FHI’s activities in Ghana from May 2006 till April 2007. As FHI Country Director, he provided leadership for the DFID/Ghana Aids Commission, National Aids Control/Treatment Accelerated Program (TAP), IMPACT, and the Rainbow Network projects aimed at increasing access to HIVAIDS treatment in Ghana Comprehensive HIV care, support and treatment in the private sector in Ghana. He has over 15 years experience in pharmaceutical service industry, health finance/insurance management, private marketing and distribution of pharmaceuticals and private-public partnerships in the health sector. He was the primary facilitator in the development of a key national policy; the National Health Insurance Policy Framework and the Health Insurance Act of Ghana. Mr. Eghan has also been directly involved in development of National malaria policy of Ghana where he is currently a board member. Previously as Field Program Manager for the Management Sciences for Health’s Strategies for Enhancing Access to Essential Medicines (MSH_SEAM) Project in Ghana (2001-2005) he lead in the development and implementation of the essential medicines private franchise network in rural Ghana and the strengthening of the health systems of the Catholic Health Services as well strengthen the public sector regulator of pharmaceutical services in Ghana: Pharmacy Council. He has also conducted training programmes and advocacy initiatives with health workers in conjunction with the Ministry of health. He has been involved in several designs and implementation of the assessment in the private and public health sectors in rural and peri-urban Ghana. He was a member of the joint MSH-JSI implementation planning team on the recently launched President Bush Malaria Initiatives –PMI in Ghana. Mr. Eghan holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and Bachelor degree in Pharmacy. 7 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Eyob Zere Asbu, PhD Health Systems Advisor World Health Organization P.O. Box 30390 Lilongwe 3 Malawi Phone: +265 1 772755 Fax: +265 1 772 350 E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Asbu is Health Systems Advisor at the WHO Country Office in Malawi. He has a Ph.D in health economics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. In his current capacity, he advises the Country Office and government on a wide range of issues in health systems and health economics including health system policy and planning, issues of health financing; human resources for health; health information and research; and poverty and health. His main areas of research include the measurement of efficiency in health care using frontier techniques, analysis of equity in health and health care, health financing and economics of disease control. 8 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, B-Pharm, PG Cert. Health Management (UK), MA Health Management Planning and Policy (Leeds UK), MPSGh. Head: Ghana National Drugs Programme Ministry of Health P.O. Box MB 582, Accra, Ghana Tel +233 21 661670 Mob +233 244 328787 Tel/Fax +233 21 664309 Email: [email protected] Website www.ghndp.org Mrs. Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt is a Pharmacist with over 20 years experience in district health systems and a Health Policy Analyst. She is currently Head of Ghana National Drugs Programme – a Pharmaceutical Sector Development Programme - of the Ministry of Health established with funding from the Development Partners. She obtained her B Pharm degree at the University of Science and Technology Kumasi Ghana, a Post- graduate Certificate in Health Management and also MA in Health Management Planning and Policy at the University of Leeds, UK. Mrs. Gyansa-Lutterodt managed the introduction of a comprehensive national drug policy in Ghana and coordinated the production and dissemination of Ghana’s Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List with the 6th edition review in progress. She also managed, coordinated and has been involved in most Pharmaceutical sector surveys in Ghana. She has had a vast experience in promoting rational use of medicines in Ghana. As one of the drafters of Ghana’s Health Policy, believes in evidence based policy decision making and also moving health policies into practice that provides sustainable outcomes especially for the most vulnerable. She was one of the participants of the maiden MedIC course in Manila, Philippines in 2007. 9 COURSE FACILITATOR INFORMATION (alphabetically by last name) Dr. David Ofori-Adjei Dr. David Ofori-Adjei is Professor of Tropical Clinical Pharmacology; and Medicine and Therapeutics at the Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology, University of Ghana Medical School. He is a former Director of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana, Legon. His interests include the promotion of the rational use of drugs both at the national and international level, pharmacotherapy of tropical diseases especially malaria, schistosomiasis and buruli ulcer; pharmacogenetics and clinical trials. He has played a major role in the selection of essential medicines, the preparation of therapeutic guidelines as well as malaria control in Ghana. He has worked on WHO expert panels and working groups related to medicines (selection of essential medicines, drug use statistics methodology and adverse drug events reporting). Presently, he is the Chair of the Coordinating Committee of the National Malaria Control Programme, the team leader of a group assisting the National Health Insurance Authority improve medicines use, Editor-in-Chief of the Ghana Medical Journal, the Country Coordinator of the International Network for the Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) in Ghana and member of the Advisory Council of the Clinical Division of IUPHAR. He is also the Co-chair of the Ghanaian-Dutch Collaboration on Health Research and Development, represents the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) on the Developing Country Coordinating Committee of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership and chairs the Clinical Trials Review Committee of the Ghana Food & Drugs Board. 10