ALAN WILLIAMS: WHO HE WAS AND HIS LEGACY. His contribution to the way health care decisions are taken. DIALOGUE IN MEMORIAM.

Las Fundaciones Instituto de Investigación en Servicios de Salud y Salud Innovación y Sociedad y NOVARTIS organizan el homenaje


1st December 2005
Institut d’Estudis Catalans
c/ Carme 47
BARCELONA

Registration and information details:

Maria Navarro
maria.navarro@novartis.com
Tno: 93 306 59 11
Fax: 93 231 32 20

Dr Alan Williams died on June 2, 2005. Alan was the most powerful of the pioneers of health economics. It was his inspiration that led to the creation of the York Health Economics MSc and his vision ensured that the course exposed his students to complementary disciplines like epidemiology and medical sociology. There are countless established health economists- among them a number of catalan and Spanish economists - who received their specialist training trough this programme much of it under Alan’s tutelage. A visionary economist he transformed the way that health care decisions are taken. Dr. Williams’s papers on economics of coronary artery bypass grafting, recognized as most influential in 1997, had been published in 1985 by the British Medical Journal and drew the attention of clinicians to his work. Williams views centred on the way that health care impacted on both the quantity and/or quality of life, and he advocated “quality adjusted life years - Qaly” as a measure of health benefit. This had far reaching consequences, arguably up to and including the creation of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) in 1999. The Dialogue’s aim is to provide a first reaction and reflection from the Spanish community of health economists, allied health and Social Policy professionals and users of Health Economics on its Dr Williams universal vision and his influence in Spain.

Draft Programme

09.30 h. Registration

10.00h. Opening

Dr. Juan J. Artells i Herrero, Director, Fundación Salud, Innovación y Sociedad, Dr. Guillem López Casasnovas, Board of Directors, Bank of Spain, Dr. Salvador Giner, President, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

10.30 h. Plenary session

Chairperson: Dr. Lluis Bohigas, Vicepresident of the Advisory Board to the Regional Minister, Health Department

Alan Williams: “Who was he?”

Prof. Michael Drummond, Professor of Health Economics, University of York

“Academic and professional contribution”

Prof. Alan Maynard, Director of Health Policy Group, University of York

"Alan Williams: a vision from a health sociologist"

Prof. David Taylor, Professor of Pharmaceutical and Public Health Policy

12.00 h. Coffee break

12.30 h. Round table: Alan Williams: the Spanish Connection

Chairperson: Dr. Ricard Meneu, Vicepresident, Foundation “Instituto de Investigación en Servicios de Salud”.

Dr. Emilio Albi, Department of Public Finances and Fiscal System, University Complutense, Madrid. Dr. Nacho Abasolo, Department of Economic Institutions, Economic Statistics and Econometrics, University of La Laguna (Tenerife). Sr. Juan Díez Nicolás, Profesor, Análisis Sociológicos, Económicos y Políticos, Madrid. Dr. Jaime Ginestal, Doctor in Economics, University of Basque Country and Master MSC, University of York.

13.30 h.Closing

Dr. Joan Bigorra, Director, Novartis Pharma Spain. Professor Andrew M. Jones, Director, Graduate Programme in Health Economics, University of York.