This month, we met with Dr. Abdur Razzaque Sarker to discuss his work with BIDS, his work around COVID-19, and life in Dhaka.
What are you currently working on? My current work is significantly focused on health systems research including economic analysis of various aspects such as the patient, household, health system, and broader societal perspectives. I also did a lot of research on economic evaluation of public health programs including the economics of vaccine-preventable diseases like cholera, malaria, rotavirus, typhoid, dengue, and pneumococci. Currently, I am conducting two pieces of research: the economics of dengue in urban Bangladesh in Dhaka and the economics of COVID-19 in Bangladesh, where the cost of illness from a societal perspective will be measured.
How did you get started in immunization economics? I did my Master’s in health economics. Through this, I learned about the vast area of health economic research which led me to do research in this area. It was more interesting to focus on health economics because it was an emerging area in Bangladesh, so after my postgraduate degree, I got a health economist job for an international organization called ICDDRB located in Bangladesh. My project was to assess the economics of the oral cholera vaccine in urban Bangladesh. That was an exciting project for me as we are introducing the oral cholera vaccine in urban Bangladesh and my assignment was to create economic evidence of the oral cholera vaccination program in Bangladesh. It was an excellent opportunity for me to do something that is really applied.
In the meantime, I did my Ph.D. at the University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom. My dissertation was based on the economics of diarrheal infection and the effect of vaccination in a lower-middle-income country context. Although I have done several studies on public health issues, I am continuing my research on emerging health economies primarily.
What immunization economics topics are you most interested in? I am most interested in the economic evaluation of immunization programs. I would like to assess the value for money particularly for any immunization program in Bangladesh or similar countries. Reflecting on what I have done so far, cost analysis from various perspectives is one of my priority areas as the cost is common for all types of economic evaluation, either cost-effectiveness or cost benefit analysis. I am keen to assess vaccinations’ long-term positive and negative effects.
Are there any new methods or other topics you would like to learn about? Costing assessment is one of my priority areas; I’ve done a couple research projects in this area, and I would like to do more. I would like to gather knowledge about the various costing methodologies particularly to reevaluate capital cost and opportunity cost estimation and because specific areas are still missing particularly around measuring capital cost and productivity losses. We must rethink the best method to estimate productivity loss, so I want to learn more about it, and I want to learn about model-based cost-effectiveness analysis and extended cost-effectiveness analysis.
Which part of conducting research do you like best? I like to develop study protocol and the design of the study as well as concept notes. Also, I love to do field work. After the preliminary design of any study, I love to conduct a field visit as this gives me more insight from various perspectives for the whole study, even the practicability of the study findings. I like to interact with people on the ground level. And of course, after collecting that data, I conduct data analysis by adopting various methods, and the dissemination is always exciting. I also love supporting and mentoring younger health economists in their areas.
Do you have any tips for aspiring health economists? In Bangladesh, a good number of students complete health economics graduate courses. I think health economics is a great subject, however the field of health economics is broad: demand and supply for health care, the value of health, economic evaluation, health care organization, financing, health system-level evaluation, and more. Having said that, I advise anyone first to be sure of their interest area and develop their analytical skills. This is critical to success. It would be best if you read as many books and related articles as you can. Every aspiring health economist should have a mentor. As a young graduate, luckily, I got two friendly and knowledgeable supervisors: Professor Jahangir AM Khan and Professor Alec Morton. It could not be possible for me to be here without them. So, I think mentorship is essential, particularly in our area. Finally, I will say you have to love what you do in your research.
What do you like the most about the Immunization Economics Community of Practice? In 2019, there was the conference in Basel, Switzerland, and I presented there as a part of that group. From that group, I found the news section on your website very helpful, and the tweets that are linked to full stories are very helpful for me. I should also mention that the data repository is one of the vital sections which is always very informative.
How do you like to spend time outside of work? I spend a good deal of time with my family and colleagues. I like to travel with them and meet with them. I also love to watch Netflix and WWE wrestling! I like to travel if I have a long break from work. If I have a short break, I like shopping and watching movies.
What do you watch on Netflix? Last I watched was Wednesday!
Where are you based and what would you recommend to a visitor? At this time, I work in Bangladesh, and I am based in Dhaka. The people of Bangladesh are cheerful and very friendly. Anybody who visits Dhaka would enjoy our traditional food. There’s a variety of food that everyone loves so much and of course, there are historical places here in Dhaka. There are a lot of parks and shopping malls as well. Anyone who visits can enjoy it. I would like to invite everyone!
What are you looking forward to at the moment? I am working in Bangladesh in a national public research organization, so I look forward to improving public health in Bangladesh through various community-based programs. In working here, I am trying to generate data-driven evidence that will be used to inform health policies for achieving universal health coverage in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is going to introduce the health insurance program, so I also want to improve my knowledge and skills in economic evaluation to ensure that resources are used in the best possible way in Bangladesh. So, I am looking forward to working in this area going forward.
What have you recently read that you would recommend to other community members? Yes, I have recently been reading a book published by the Oxford University Press. The name of the book is Applied Methods of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health Care, and I think it is valuable to other members because the book shares the key elements of analyzing cost and outcomes, calculating the cost-effectiveness of vaccination in detail, and reporting the results precisely. When I read this book, I think it will be valuable to young health economists to understand how to use scarce resources efficiently. So, I would suggest this book to everyone, especially young health economists.
Tea or coffee? I drink both coffee and tea, but I would vote for tea! I like to drink green tea.
Are you interested in being featured in a future newsletter? Or would like to nominate another member? Please email immunizationeconomics@thinkwell.global with your suggestion and a brief description of your or their work. We are specifically interested in spotlighting the work and profiles of country researchers working on immunization economics.