Case studies on the progress of cervical cancer screening programs in Bhutan, India, and Türkiye.

International stakeholders gathered in New Delhi, India, in December 2022 to share experiences on human papillomaviruses (HPV) prevention and control strategies. As part of a supplementary publication from the meeting proceedings, this paper describes secondary HPV prevention strategies highlighting the varying degrees of progress and challenges through case studies from Bhutan, India, and Türkiye. India has implemented national screening guidelines, primarily using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), but achieving a low coverage rate of 1.

Advancing evidence-based decision-making in Bhutan: development of a health technology assessment framework.

Unlabelled: Bhutan is currently transforming its health system and has updated its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) framework. This revision is designed to prioritize health initiatives and ensure the sustainability of the health system. This updated framework has been developed through an iterative process involving a desk-based review and stakeholder consultations at the beginning and after the development of the draft framework.

Implementation of a nationwide population-level cancer screening in Bhutan: A programmatic experience.

This article delves into Bhutan's adept execution of a nationwide cancer screening initiative within the Health Flagship Programme, concentrating on gastric, cervical, and breast cancers. Despite challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure constraints, logistical complexities, health human resource shortages, and data management issues, the programme succeeded. The procurement and logistics management ensured the timely provision of essential medical equipment and test kits.

Population-level cancer screening and cancer care in Bhutan, 2020-2023: a review.

Screening of cancers is an important intervention in reducing the incidence and mortality related to cancers. Bhutan is one small country that is witnessing an increasing incidence and mortality related to cancers. The government implemented a time-bound population-level screening for gastric, cervical and breast cancers from 2020 to 2023 with an overall coverage of 91.

Addressing Challenges in Health Technology Assessment Institutionalization for Furtherance of Universal Health Coverage Through South-South Knowledge Exchange: Lessons From Bhutan, Kenya, Thailand, and Zambia.

Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a tool for priority setting, has emerged as a means of ensuring the sustainability of a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) system. However, setting up an effective HTA system poses multiple challenges and knowledge exchange can play a crucial role in helping countries achieve their UHC targets. This article reports the results of the discussion during a preconference session at the 2019 HTAsiaLink Conference, an annual gathering of HTA agencies in Asia, which supports knowledge transfer and exchange among HTA practitioners.

Limited Secondary Transmission of the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) by Asymptomatic and Mild COVID-19 Patients in Bhutan.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is growing concordance and persisting conflicts on the virus and the disease process. We discuss limited transmissibility of the virus by asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19 patients in Bhutan. We followed up the secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the contacts of asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients in Bhutan.

Economic evaluation of rotavirus vaccination in children of Bhutan.

Background: Diarrhoea remains one of the top ten causes of under-five child morbidity in Bhutan, and rotavirus is a significant cause of child diarrhoeal hospitalisations. This study sought to determine the health outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and budget and human resource implications of introducing rotavirus vaccines in the routine immunisation program to inform Bhutan's decision-making process.

Methods: We used UNIVAC model (version 1.

Towards the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in Bhutan: A cost-utility analysis to determine the optimal policy option.

Background: Due to competing health priorities and limited resources, many low-income countries, even those with a high disease burden, are not able to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.

Objective: To determine the cost-utility of 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV10 and PCV13) compared to no vaccination in Bhutan.

Methods: A model-based cost-utility analysis was performed in the Bhutanese context using a government perspective.