The ISPOR South Africa Chapter invited healthcare stakeholders to the 12th Annual ISPOR SA Conference that took place on 23-24 October 2023. This marked the first in-person conference for the chapter since 2019. The theme of the event was "Health Economics in the 4th Industrial Revolution". Over 80 delegates attended including policymakers, regulators, funders, researchers, academia, the life sciences industry, and healthcare providers.
The conference offered attendees various opportunities for their participation, including interactive presentations by faculty members such as Dr Tienie Stander (VI Research), Joe van Niekerk (Discovery Vitality), Dr Ayanda Mbuli (Medscheme), Dr William Crown (Brandeis University, Massachusetts), Prof Wim Delva (Wimmy), Ana Endres (Discovery Health), Dr Alykhan Vira (Quantium), and Dr Debjani Mueller (Charlotte Maxeke Research Cluster). Speakers explored the impact of Digital Health and the role of Big Data in health economics and overall healthcare decision-making in South Africa.
The ISPOR SA Chapter was fortunate to welcome international speaker Prof Katarzyna Kolasa (Kozminski University, Poland) in person, who is a leading figure in Digital Health for ISPOR Global. Prof Kolasa delivered the keynote address, “Without data, you are just another person with an opinion.”
Additionally, the programme featured a research session with both oral presentations and abstract posters on display. Oral presentations included: Budget Impact of Empagliflozin for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes with Established CVD in RSA Private Sector by VI Research, Economic Assessment of MyDiaCare for Managing Diabetes in RSA Private Sector by IQVIA and Developing a Call to Action for Patient Involvement in HTA in RSA by Campaigning for Cancer.
Furthermore, attendees had the option to register for post-conference short courses provided by VI Research & Symmetron. These courses covered the following topics: Strategic Implementation of RWD studies through Dynamic, Digitally Enhanced Registries & Indirect Treatment Comparisons What, Why and How - Interpret Them and Appraise Their Quality.
A core focus of the conference was our ISPOR SA Chapter Think Tank. The think tank, facilitated by Moderator Tienie Stander (VI Research), promoted multi-stakeholder discussions centered on the upcoming National Health Insurance (NHI) and the role of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) within the NHI framework. A key outcome of this discussion was the proposal to develop a standardised HTA template in collaboration with private sector funders, which would later be presented to the Department of Health for further alignment. ISPOR SA will work with various stakeholders to advance the action points identified during the meeting.
Stakeholders present included the National Department of Health, University of Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand, University of KwaZulu Natal, South African Medical Research Council, Medscheme, Discovery Health, Mediscor PBM, Insight Consulting, ISPOR SA Chapter, Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa (IPASA), Ophthalmological Society of South Africa (Shelley McGee), Independent Practitioners Association Foundation (IPAF), and the South African Medical Device Industry Association (SAMED).
