IIHMR University, Jaipur and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA have collaborated on capacity building of health professionals to undertake research studies on the economics of COVID-19 vaccine for optimum use of scarce resources. The closing ceremony of the global online course on vaccine economics for COVID-19 was conducted virtually on Sunday to provide an opportunity to participants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Somalia.

The IIHMR University, Jaipur and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA jointly designed two new online courses for vaccine policymakers and program managers to use the tools of economics to optimise vaccine coverage during the challenges of COVID-19. The course participants were engaged in online learning sessions, workshops vaccine demand and cost analysis for vaccine delivery to discuss key problems and their economic solutions, and finally developed research proposals.

Prof. P.R. Sodani, President (Officiating), IIHMR University, Jaipur, while addressing the participants said, economics plays an important role in decision making. These research studies would be useful for government and other key stake-holders in the contexts of COVID-19, he said.

This time, globally, the programme received 400 applications, out of which they shortlisted 230 participants. For the India programme, they received 64 applications out of which 53 participants were selected to attend the program. The participants in the programme were from countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Somalia. These participants work in different capacities in the field of immunization and vaccine delivery.A

Dr. Sodani, concluded the session "by acknowledging the efforts made by all resource persons and thanked them for a remarkable contribution in the course by conducting their sessions. He appreciated the efforts made by Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA for supporting the training program and thanked all participants for their active participation in the program that involved the great exchange of ideas between faculties and participants during the workshop."
(IANS)