Francis Ruiz
francisjruizhe.bsky.social
Francis Ruiz
@francisjruizhe.bsky.social

HTA and beyond...Global Health and Development, LSHTM. http://iDSIhealth.org

Economics 59%
Public Health 17%

“That means making sure that the totality of the government’s huge research and development investment portfolio – not just that done in defence – is shaped by considerations of defence and security. Making the IP generated available right across government.”
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton delivered his first Annual Defence Lecture as Chief of the Defence Staff at RUSI yesterday. Key focus: building national resilience through a whole of society approach. Read more on our website: https://bit.ly/3YuToxb

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton delivered his first Annual Defence Lecture as Chief of the Defence Staff at RUSI yesterday. Key focus: building national resilience through a whole of society approach. Read more on our website: https://bit.ly/3YuToxb

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Plans to give government ministers more power over NICE risks opening the door to political interference in decisions over new treatments, health economists have warned.

@francisjruizhe.bsky.social @bmj.com @lshtm.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Ministers seek power to control NHS drug approvals to support US pharma deal
Plans to give ministers more power over the UK drug watchdog risk opening the door to political interference in decisions over new treatments, health economists have warned. The plans, subject to con...
www.bmj.com

“The proposed change would enable ministers to direct NICE to use a specific cost-effectiveness threshold in the development of its guidance and recommendations…” @lshtm-gheco.bsky.social (Deadline for responses: 13 Jan)

www.gov.uk/government/c...
Changes to NICE regulations: cost-effectiveness threshold - consultation document
www.gov.uk
On the UK-US pharmaceutical deal I'm afraid this does look like two nasty trends coming together to make a very bad agreement for the UK - namely Whitehall power to make deals with no scrutiny, and companies working with countries to coerce others. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What will be the cost of Keir Starmer’s new medicines deal with Donald Trump? British lives | Aditya Chakrabortty
More than £3bn that could have been used for UK patients will go to big pharma for its branded products, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
www.theguardian.com
NEW: Hospital productivity growth is beating the government’s targets. So why hasn't the NHS made more progress on cutting elective waiting times?

In a new @theifs.bsky.social comment, we examine what’s driving the divergence between two of the government’s biggest NHS priorities.
1/11
NEW: Strong productivity growth and increasing funding has meant English hospitals have been delivering much more elective (pre-planned) care.

So why isn't the waiting list going down more quickly?

🧵 @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine what's going on:

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

What's fuelling global surge in #measles?

@benk-d.bsky.social tells The Independent cuts have hampered response to vaccine #misinformation & clear evidence #austerity measures in certain areas are “correlated with declining vaccine uptake”.

👉 www.independent.co.uk/news/world/m...
Crumbling health systems fuelling global surge in measles, scientists warn
Experts say that a ‘generational decline in living standards’ could be behind waning rates of vaccination
www.independent.co.uk

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Rapid Reaction: LSHTM experts respond to US vote to end hepatitis B #vaccine recommendation for newborns

They warn more babies in the US will become infected with the virus, which is associated with liver #cancer

#PublicHealth

👉 www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

With his positive contribution, Koum is not exceptional. Refugees+asylees in the United States contributed $124 billion more in taxes than they took in benefits, during 2005–2019, at all levels of government.

aspe.hhs.gov/reports/fisc...

Benefits to new immigrants are an investment, not a handout.
The Fiscal Impact of Refugees and Asylees at the Federal, State, and Local Levels from 2005-2019
Between 1990 and 2022, the United States welcomed over 2.1 million refugees and accepted over 800,000 asylees. While the purpose of granting visas to refugees and asylees is humanitarian, they do impa...
aspe.hhs.gov

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Risks of universal #ProstateCancer screening could outweigh benefits

Bernard Rachet & Suping Ling explain evidence doesn't justify population-wide screening for all men but highlights need for better data, screening methods & support.

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Amongst the many possible announcements in today's budget, one we'll be keeping an eye out of for is a deal over what the NHS pays for branded new medicines.

Our Senior Policy Analyst @sallygainsbury.bsky.social set out what's at stake for the NHS in her interview with Healthcare Management.
A bitter pill to swallow
While headlines have been dominated in the run-up to this month's Autumn Budget by the final securing of an agreement between the DHSC and Treasury to pay the £1bn...
www.healthcare-management.uk
Obviously a heck of a lot to digest from the Covid inquiry but this one rings true with our experience at the time. Stronger multi disciplinary expertise might have helped show the interconnections and trade offs between health, economics, geography and societal impacts
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

6/ Our message is clear: Health security must be treated as national security. Hospitals, labs, and health data systems are critical infrastructure, and need to be defended.

Some particularly resonant lines in that speech- worth reading in full
It's linked to 'why is Labour's policy agenda so unpopular' - although 'open vs closed' is a terrible way of naming it, the last nineteen years have proved Tony Blair's basic analysis of what the dividing lines of politics would become exactly right:
Full text of Tony Blair's speech to the TUC
'Over the coming months, we will be conducting a debate and refining policy on the basis of it. Participate in it. Organised labour has a crucial role to play.'
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

It's linked to 'why is Labour's policy agenda so unpopular' - although 'open vs closed' is a terrible way of naming it, the last nineteen years have proved Tony Blair's basic analysis of what the dividing lines of politics would become exactly right:
Full text of Tony Blair's speech to the TUC
'Over the coming months, we will be conducting a debate and refining policy on the basis of it. Participate in it. Organised labour has a crucial role to play.'
www.theguardian.com
Europe is increasingly facing climate-related hazards. Extreme temperatures, heavy rainfall, and droughts threaten human health, ecosystems, and create substantial economic losses.

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

💬 Should NICE increase the cost-effectiveness threshold for new NHS medicines?

@francisjruizhe.bsky.social & Andy Briggs discuss the history of NICE’s price threshold and arguments around its increase #healtheconomics #publichealth

Read more 🔽
occamresearch.substack.com/p/the-20000-...
The £20,000 to £30,000 question
Is it time to recalibrate NICE’s threshold for decision making?
occamresearch.substack.com
"if anything employment outcomes are worsening more rapidly for those with fewer skills looking for blue-collar jobs than the highly skilled seeking knowledge work"

on.ft.com/43eYeRZ

@jburnmurdoch.ft.com as ever doing the essential work.

It's not just AI. And education still matters
What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong
People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts
on.ft.com

open.substack.com/pub/hannahri... Fascinating- condensation trails have a climate impact but are inexpensive to eliminate. Action is possible now.
Eliminating contrails from flying could be incredibly cheap
Could we halve aviation's climate impact at a fraction of the cost of sustainable aviation fuels?
open.substack.com

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Weight loss jabs won’t make Britain healthy again on.ft.com/4mYbbrf | opinion
Weight loss jabs won’t make Britain healthy again
The UK government should bet on the dietary tortoise as well as the hare in the race against obesity
on.ft.com

‘Let us not risk getting trapped in the last war.’ My piece for @pbe.co.uk on why the wellbeing v GDP framing has run out of road
pbe.co.uk/insights/bey...
Beyond ‘beyond GDP’ | PBE
By Hetan Shah I was involved in some of the calls for improved measurement of wellbeing in the early 2000s. Two decades on, sometimes the debate feels like it has not moved on sufficiently from those ...
pbe.co.uk

“Like many societies past and present, its economic ambitions outpaced ecological limits…. But Troy also offers a glimmer of hope: the possibility of adaptation after excess, resilience after rupture.” theconversation.com/troys-fall-w...
Troy’s fall was partly due to environmental strain – and it holds lessons for today
Long before industry, ancient societies were already pushing their ecosystems to the brink
theconversation.com

Reposted by Francis Ruiz

Populist politics is on the rise—from Trump to Reform UK.

Why? It's not just economic hardship or distrust in elites.

In a new blog, Rosa Marks argues something deeper is at play: the collapse of social & cultural infrastructure. 🧵

www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/social-...
Policy exchange, backed by Sajid Javid, think we need to switch the NHS funding model to social insurance, and introduce new charges for NHS services, like to see a GP

policyexchange.org.uk/publication/...

These are not new ideas, but they are bad ideas

A thread with some evidence
The NHS – a Suitable Case for Treatment? - Policy Exchange
Download Publication Online Reader ‘The NHS – a Suitable Case for Treatment?’ makes the case that the NHS is not fit for purpose and is in urgent need of reform.The report finds that NHS performance r...
policyexchange.org.uk
We have responded to the ICJ advisory opinion on the legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change.

Joana Setzer said “For the first time, the world’s highest court has made clear that states have a legal duty not only to prevent climate harm — but to fully repair it."
Institute responds to ICJ advisory opinion - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment
Joana Setzer, Associate Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School...
www.lse.ac.uk