MCI-VheP Joint Webinars on “COVID-19: New Norms and Learnings”

The Nonprofit, Social & Health Care Management department in cooperation with our partners and friends at the Value in Health Economics and Policy research group (VheP) hosted an MCI Webinar series.

The series is based on the COVID-19 special issue of the Health Policy and Technology scientific journal. Three insightful webinars were conducted between October and December 2020 by seasoned academics, scholars, practitioners and experts on COVID-19. The webinars covered different COVID-19 policy interventions, policy categorization, and future outlooks in more than 20 countries in 6 continents. Details and recordings are provided below (English-language).

We would like to thank our esteemed presenters, panel members, attendees, and our friends at the VheP research group for their contribution to this successful and informative series.

MCI-VheP Webinar 1: The impact of policy and technology on health, health care systems, and the economy: The case of COVID-19.

Please find the recording here.

Intro: The rapid response to the health crisis created by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been on a scale not previously seen. Some nations responded to the pandemic by restricting the movement of citizens and closing the borders to non-citizens. While others focused their efforts on their health systems and less severe behavioral changes. Despite a global reaction to the pandemic, the health policies and technological responses has varied. However, within the policy responses there is an identifiable target for each of the initiatives – to mitigate and contain the spread, health prevention and care, alleviation of the economic impacts and health specific targets of testing, tracing and treating using technology. Such interventions have been motivated by differences in health systems, pandemic plans and the available technology, as well as by the political leadership and legislative controls. The effects of these targeted policies have been wide-ranging, with impacts observed not only on the epidemiology data of COVID-19, but related to changes in the judicial courts, mental health effects and the economic value of virus testing. This webinar explores the health policy and technology targets of COVID-19 responses, and the effects or changes that have occurred as a result.

• Chair:Francesco Paolucci, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Presenters:Doowon Lee, University of Newcastle, Australia and Naomi Moy. University of Bologna, Italy
• Panel:
  • Craig Dalton,University of Newcastle, Australia
  • Bin Li,University of Newcastle, Australia
  • Jonathan Tritter , Aston University, United Kingdom
  • Mattias Kyhlstedt, Managing Director, HealthCare Outcomes Institute, Sweden

MCI-VheP Webinar 2: Health policy and technology responses in the making: COVID-19 lessons from Europe, North America, and Australia.

Please find the recording here.

Intro: The response by governments to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has varied widely and has been on a scale not previously seen. This response was driven in part by the rapidness of local outbreaks, with some nations pursuing a reactionary response while others turned to pandemic response plans. Throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, governments have had to respond to rapidly evolving information, which has meant frequent changes and sometimes confusing directives. This has meant that regulations in neighboring countries can drastically differ, as can the within-country regulations. In some nations, policy directives have resulted in restrictions on movements while others did not use such a direct approach. This seminar will discuss the differing pandemic strategies observed in Europe, North America, and Australia; and how these interventions have affected health and economic outcomes.

 Presenters & Panel Members: 

• Professor Francesco Paolucci, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Associate Professor Manuel Garcia-Goni, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Associate Professor Andrews Matthews, Monash University Australia
• Researcher Zach Desson, University of Newcastle, Australia 
• Dr Shuli Brammli-Greenberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalum, Israel
• Professor Jonathan Tritter, Aston University, United Kingdom
• Dr Doowon Lee, University of Newcastle, Australia 
• Professor Richard Fordham, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom
• Mattias Kyhlstedt, Managing Director, HealthCare Outcomes Institute, Sweden
• Dr Hanna Tiirinki, Finish Research Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
• Researcher Marcello Antonini, PhD candidate, University of Newcastle, Australia  

MCI-VheP Webinar 3: The Covid-19 Pandemic: Insights from China, Egypt, Nigeria, the USA, and Latin America.

Please find the recording here.

Intro: The Covid-19 Pandemic: Insights from China, India, Egypt, Nigeria, the USA, and Latin America: The health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on every country around the world, despite the widespread implementation of policies aimed at reducing or limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These policies often involved stricter border controls, greater emphasis on more cost-effective measures, or even interventions led by civil society, but it has become clear that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to combating the virus. This is especially true in countries that already faced substantial barriers to policy implementation in the form of incomplete health coverage, political instability, low health expenditure, and economic and social inequalities prior to the pandemic. This seminar explores the diverse set of strategies that some of these countries pursued to combat COVID-19 and discusses how these strategies have influenced the health and economic consequences faced by their citizens. 

Presenters & Panel Members:

• Associate Professor Hao Tan, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Ibrahim Ridwan, researcher, University of Lagos, Nigeria
• Ayman Sabae, CEO Shamseya, Egypt
• Researcher Thomas Otten, Eu-HEM Alumnus
• Professor Francesco Paolucci, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Professor Jonathan Tritter, Aston University, United Kingdom