Bibliometric trends of health economic evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa
File(s)
Author(s)
Hernandez-Villafuerte, Karla
Li, Ryan
Hofman, Karen J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Collaboration between Sub-Saharan African researchers is important for the generation and transfer
of health technology assessment (HTA) evidence, in order to support priority-setting in health. The objective of this
analysis was to evaluate collaboration patterns between countries.
Methods: We conducted a rapid evidence assessment that included a random sample of health economic
evaluations carried out in 20 countries (Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Uganda). We conducted bibliometric network analysis based on all first authors with a Sub-Saharan
African academic affiliation and their co-authored publications (“network-articles”). Then we produced a connection
map of collaboration patterns among Sub-Saharan African researchers, reflecting the number of network-articles
and the country of affiliation of the main co-authors.
Results: The sample of 119 economic evaluations mostly related to treatments of communicable diseases, in
particular HIV/AIDS (42/119, 35.29 %) and malaria (26/119, 21.85 %). The 39 first authors from Sub-Saharan African
institutions together co-authored 729 network-articles. The network analysis showed weak collaboration between
health economic researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with researchers being more likely to collaborate with Europe
and North America than with other African countries. South Africa stood out as producing the highest number of
health economic evaluations and collaborations.
Conclusions: The development and evaluation of HTA research networks in Sub-Saharan Africa should be supported,
with South Africa central to any such efforts. Organizations and institutions from high income countries interested
in supporting priority setting in Sub-Saharan Africa should include promoting collaboration as part of their agendas,
in order to take advantage of the potential transferability of results and methods of the available health economic
analyses in Africa and internationally.
of health technology assessment (HTA) evidence, in order to support priority-setting in health. The objective of this
analysis was to evaluate collaboration patterns between countries.
Methods: We conducted a rapid evidence assessment that included a random sample of health economic
evaluations carried out in 20 countries (Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Uganda). We conducted bibliometric network analysis based on all first authors with a Sub-Saharan
African academic affiliation and their co-authored publications (“network-articles”). Then we produced a connection
map of collaboration patterns among Sub-Saharan African researchers, reflecting the number of network-articles
and the country of affiliation of the main co-authors.
Results: The sample of 119 economic evaluations mostly related to treatments of communicable diseases, in
particular HIV/AIDS (42/119, 35.29 %) and malaria (26/119, 21.85 %). The 39 first authors from Sub-Saharan African
institutions together co-authored 729 network-articles. The network analysis showed weak collaboration between
health economic researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with researchers being more likely to collaborate with Europe
and North America than with other African countries. South Africa stood out as producing the highest number of
health economic evaluations and collaborations.
Conclusions: The development and evaluation of HTA research networks in Sub-Saharan Africa should be supported,
with South Africa central to any such efforts. Organizations and institutions from high income countries interested
in supporting priority setting in Sub-Saharan Africa should include promoting collaboration as part of their agendas,
in order to take advantage of the potential transferability of results and methods of the available health economic
analyses in Africa and internationally.
Date Issued
2016-08-24
Date Acceptance
2016-08-10
Citation
Globalization and Health, 2016, 12
ISSN
1744-8603
Publisher
BioMed Central
Journal / Book Title
Globalization and Health
Volume
12
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Health technology assessment
HTA
Low- and middle-income countries
Resource allocation
Network analysis
COST-EFFECTIVENESS
COLLABORATION
HIV
PREVENTION
TRANSMISSION
COUNTRIES
HIV/AIDS
ZAMBIA
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
50