Introduction
LSE Health is a research Centre located within LSE Health and Social Care, London School of Economics and Political Science. It is affiliated with the Departments of Social Policy|, Management| and the Accounting|. It was established in 1995. The Centre's fundamental mission is the production and dissemination of high quality research in health and social care.
The Centre's unique research base contributes to the LSE's established world presence and reputation in health policy, health economics and demography. Bringing together a core team of researchers and academics, LSE Health promotes and draws upon the multidisciplinary expertise of 37 staff members, 13 associated academics and a number of PhD students.
LSE Health staff contribute to a number of taught courses within LSE, in addition to being responsible for delivering the MSc in International Health Policy and the MSc in Health, Population and Society. Substantial contributions are made to the MSc in Health Policy Planning and Financing. Staff have also run short courses on specific aspects of health economics and health policy.
Funding for research programmes comes from a variety of sources, including public bodies, charitable trusts and private corporations. Currently, research is funded by, among others, the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)|, the Department of Health for England, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, The OECD, the European Union|, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Nuffield Trust|, the Wellcome Trust|, the King's Fund| and the Office of Fair Trading|.
The Centre supports a number of international research infrastructures. It co-ordinates the European Health Policy Research Network (EHPRN)| which comprises a number of centres of excellence from both the UK and the continent. The network publishes eurohealth|, a quarterly periodical which has become a primary platform for policy makers, academics and politicians to express their views on European and comparative health policy developments.
LSE Health supports the Health Equity Network (HEN) which aims to discuss, disseminate and promote equity objectives in various health systems in the world, especially on the fair allocation of health care resources.
Furthermore, the Centre is defined as a collaborating Centre for Health Policy and Pharmaceutical Economics for the World Health Organisation (WHO)|. It is a founding member of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies|, a joint initiative between the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe, the Governments of Belgium, Finland, Greece, Norway, Spain and Sweden, the Veneto Region of Italy, the European Investment Bank|, the Open Society Institute|, The World Bank|, CRP-Santé Luxembourg, the London School of Economics and Political Science| and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine|. For further information on the Observatory's work, please visit the main website located at http://www.euro.who.int/observatory|. Here, you can also join the list serve to receive e-bulletins on news about health care systems, details of the latest publications and Health care systems in Transition (HiT) profiles, upcoming conferences and other news items.
The Observatory produces Health Care Systems in Transition reports (HiTs) covering countries of Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and the central Asian republics. HiTs include sub-regional comparative studies and a number of analytical studies on hospitals, funding, regulation and primary care. In addition, it also publishes the Euro Observer| (a quarterly newsletter focusing on evidence based policy developments in health care). The Observatory based at LSE Health focuses mainly on Western Europe.
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