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Sergio TorresRueda

BA MSc PhD

Assistant Professor
in Health Economics

LSHTM
15-17 Tavistock Place
London
WC1H 9SH
United Kingdom

Tel.
+44 20 7958 8310

I joined the Department of Global Health and Development in June 2011. I hold a BA in Political Science and Sociology from Columbia University in New York, an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a PhD in Health Economics from the LSHTM. 

Affiliations

Department of Global Health and Development
Faculty of Public Health and Policy

Research

I am a global health researcher working on health economics and health systems analyses. I specialise in economic evaluation and priority setting research in health-related interventions. My work aims to inform policy decisions through quantitative and qualitative methods. I am currently working on three broad areas. The first is health benefit package design and capacity strengthening in health technology assessment in low- and middle-income settings through the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI). The second is designing and carrying out ‘early’ economic evaluations to estimate the cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention technologies currently in the development pipeline with the intention of informing product development choices. The third is the economic evaluation of intersectoral interventions with outcomes beyond the health sector (e.g., economic empowerment).

I have worked across a range of settings and health areas over my 12+ years of global health research. Selected projects include: cost and cost-effectiveness analyses of COVID-19 treatment and vaccination; technical assistance of health benefit package design in Pakistan; trial-based economic evaluations of HIV interventions (enhanced demand creation to increase uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision in Tanzania, cotrimoxazole preventive therapy discontinuation among HIV-positive adults in Uganda); cross-country assessments of cost and cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent violence against women and girls (Ghana, Rwanda and Pakistan); analyses of health system distribution of antiretrovirals and antimalarials (Botswana and Madagascar); health system evaluations of new vaccine introductions (Cameroon, Rwanda, Ethiopia); cost analyses of HIV point-of-care diagnostics (Tanzania and Zambia) and explorations of substance use in high-risk populations (UK).

 

My doctoral research focused on the economic evidence and policy processes of disinvestment in healthcare in low- and middle-income settings. I am originally from Colombia. 

Research Area
Economic evaluation
Health care policy
Health policy
Health systems
Sexual health
Immunisation
Discipline
Development studies
Economics
Political science
Disease and Health Conditions
HIV/AIDS
Malaria
Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Respiratory disease
Country
Botswana
Cameroon
Ethiopia
United Kingdom
Ghana
Guatemala
Kenya
Madagascar
Pakistan
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Assessing the impacts of COVID-19 vaccination programme's timing and speed on health benefits, cost-effectiveness, and relative affordability in 27 African countries.
Liu Y; Procter SR; Pearson CAB; Montero AM; Torres-Rueda S; Asfaw E; Uzochukwu B; Drake T; Bergren E; Eggo RM
2023
BMC medicine
Health Economics Research on Non-surgical Biomedical HIV Prevention: Identifying Gaps and Proposing a Way Forward.
Torres-Rueda S; Terris-Prestholt F; Gafos M; Indravudh PP; Giddings R; Bozzani F; Quaife M; Ghazaryan L; Mann C; Osborne C
2023
PharmacoEconomics
Costs and Cost-Effectiveness of Biomedical, Non-Surgical HIV Prevention Interventions: A Systematic Literature Review.
Bozzani FM; Terris-Prestholt F; Quaife M; Gafos M; Indravudh PP; Giddings R; Medley GF; Malhotra S; Torres-Rueda S
2022
PharmacoEconomics
Prevention of violence against women and girls: A cost-effectiveness study across 6 low- and middle-income countries.
Ferrari G; Torres-Rueda S; Chirwa E; Gibbs A; Orangi S; Barasa E; Tawiah T; Dwommoh Prah RK; Hitimana R; Daviaud E
2022
PLOS MEDICINE
Integrating HIV services and other health services: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Bulstra CA; Hontelez JAC; Otto M; Stepanova A; Lamontagne E; Yakusik A; El-Sadr WM; Apollo T; Rabkin M; UNAIDS Expert Group on Integration
2021
PLoS medicine
The impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on health systems and household resources in Africa and South Asia
Davies N; Sweeney S; Torres-Rueda S; Bozzani F; Kitson N; Barasa E; Procter SR; Quaife M; Eggo RM; Vassall A
2020
MedRxiv
The potential for quality assurance systems to save costs and lives: the case of early infant diagnosis of HIV.
Terris-Prestholt F; Boeras D; Ong JJ; Torres-Rueda S; Cassim N; Mbengue MAS; Mboup S; Mwau M; Munemo E; Nyegenye W
2020
Trop Med Int Health
Unit costs and other musings: a response.
Torres-Rueda S; Ferrari G; Orangi S; Hitimana R; Daviaud E; Tawiah T; Prah RKD; Karmaliani R; Kapapa E; Barasa E
2020
Health policy and planning
What will it cost to prevent violence against women and girls in low- and middle-income countries? Evidence from Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia.
Torres-Rueda S; Ferrari G; Orangi S; Hitimana R; Daviaud E; Tawiah T; Prah RKD; Karmaliani R; Kapapa E; Barasa E
2020
HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING
The Structure and Parameterization of the Breast Cancer Transition Model Among Chinese Women.
Huang Y; Li Q; Torres-Rueda S; Li J
2019
Value in health regional issues
Use of Lotteries for the Promotion of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Service: A Discrete-Choice Experiment among Adult Men in Tanzania.
Ong JJ; Neke N; Wambura M; Kuringe E; Grund JM; Plotkin M; d'Elbée M; Torres-Rueda S; Mahler HR; Weiss HA
2019
Medical Decision Making
Risk compensation and STI incidence in PrEP programmes.
Quaife M; MacGregor L; Ong JJ; Gafos M; Torres-Rueda S; Grant H; Terris-Prestholt F; Vickerman P
2019
The lancet. HIV
Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of a Demand Creation Intervention to Increase Uptake of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Tanzania: Spending More to Spend Less.
Torres-Rueda S; Wambura M; Weiss HA; Plotkin M; Kripke K; Chilongani J; Mahler H; Kuringe E; Makokha M; Hellar A
2018
Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999)
Social norms related to combining drugs and sex (\"chemsex\") among gay men in South London.
Ahmed A-K; Weatherburn P; Reid D; Hickson F; Torres-Rueda S; Steinberg P; Bourne A
2016
The International journal on drug policy
Rapid Syphilis Testing Is Cost-Effective Even in Low-Prevalence Settings: The CISNE-PERU Experience.
Mallma P; Garcia P; Carcamo C; Torres-Rueda S; Peeling R; Mabey D; Terris-Prestholt F
2016
PloS one
Spending more to spend less: the unit costs of a tailored demand creation intervention to increase uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision
Torres-Rueda S; Weiss HA; Wambura M; Mahler H; Chilongani J; Kuringe E; Hayes R; Plotkin M; Makokha M; Hellar A
2016
JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY
\"Chemsex\" and harm reduction need among gay men in South London.
Bourne A; Reid D; Hickson F; Torres-Rueda S; Steinberg P; Weatherburn P
2015
The International journal on drug policy
Prices and mark-ups on antimalarials: evidence from nationally representative studies in six malaria-endemic countries.
Palafox B; Patouillard E; Tougher S; Goodman C; Hanson K; Kleinschmidt I; Torres Rueda S; Kiefer S; O'Connell K; Zinsou C
2015
Health policy and planning
The cost-effectiveness of 10 antenatal syphilis screening and treatment approaches in Peru, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Terris-Prestholt F; Vickerman P; Torres-Rueda S; Santesso N; Sweeney S; Mallma P; Shelley KD; Garcia PJ; Bronzan R; Gill MM
2015
International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics
New pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introductions in four sub-Saharan African countries: a cross-country analysis of health systems' impacts.
Torres-Rueda S; Burchett HE; Griffiths UK; Ongolo-Zogo P; Edengue J-M; Kitaw Y; Molla M; Gelmon L; Onyango-Ouma W; Konate M
2015
African health sciences
HPV vaccine introduction in Rwanda: Impacts on the broader health system.
Torres-Rueda S; Rulisa S; Burchett HED; Mivumbi NV; Mounier-Jack S
2015
Sexual & reproductive healthcare
The impact of introducing new vaccines on the health system: case studies from six low- and middle-income countries.
Burchett HED; Mounier-Jack S; Torres-Rueda S; Griffiths UK; Ongolo-Zogo P; Rulisa S; Edengue J-M; Chavez E; Kitaw Y; Molla M
2014
Vaccine
Understanding private sector antimalarial distribution chains: a cross-sectional mixed methods study in six malaria-endemic countries.
Palafox B; Patouillard E; Tougher S; Goodman C; Hanson K; Kleinschmidt I; Rueda ST; Kiefer S; O'Connell KA; Zinsou C
2014
PloS one
The private commercial sector distribution chain for antimalarial drugs in Madagascar: Findings from a rapid assessment
Torres Rueda S; Patouillard E; Palafox B; Tougher S; Goodman C; Hanson K; Raharinjatovo J; O'Connell K
2012
A Qualitative Assessment of the Private Sector Antimalarial Distribution Chain in Benin, 2009
Torres Rueda S; Tougher S; Palafox B; Patouillard E; Goodman C; Hanson K; Tassiba M; O'Connell K
2012
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