Dr. Deborah McFarland, member of the Health Campaign Effectiveness Coalition Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, has co-authored a new analysis that measures the effects of disease-specific programs on national health systems, and uses this methodology to analyze the effects of Bangladesh’s Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program. The lead author for the piece, Kim Koporc, also has connections to the Coalition, having served at the Coalition’s parent organization, the Task Force for Global Health, for more than 20 years.
The analysis, titled “Assessing the effects of disease-specific programs on health systems: An analysis of the Bangladesh Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program’s impacts on health service coverage and catastrophic health expenditure,” was published on PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
“Using the Composite Coverage Index to measure the effects of the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program revealed that it did not negatively or positively affect health service coverage rates,” states the article. “We can also say that there is a positive association between the program interventions and lowered incidence of catastrophic health expenditures.”
In addition to serving on the Coalition STAC Team, Dr. McFarland is an Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.She is/has been a member of the World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Diseases Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG), the WHO technical consultative committee for the Africa Programme on Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), the WHO/UNICEF Tropical Disease Research Special Advisory Committee, and the Mectizan Expert Committee for neglected tropical diseases. Read her full biography here.