ComBaScale: HEHTA Leads Economic Evaluation of New Horizon Europe Project
Published: 23 September 2026
Heather Fraser, supported by Emma McIntosh, is to lead the economic evaluation of the ComBaScale project funded by Horizon Europe.
Heather Fraser, supported by Emma McIntosh, is to lead the economic evaluation of the ComBaScale (Community-Based Scale up of Integrated Community Health Worker-led Cardiovascular Risk Factor Management), a new Horizon Europe-funded project led by the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) Antwerp.
The five-year project aims to empower community health workers (CHWs) in under-resourced settings to deliver a high-quality, evidence-based, holistic package of care for Cardiovascular Risk Factor Management, with integration of TB and HIV screening and diagnosis. Its scalability will be tested in two districts of Lesotho, a low-income country disproportionately affected by a rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
A key objective of the project is to determine not only whether the intervention improves health outcomes, but if it represents an efficient and sustainable use of limited healthcare resources. The HEHTA-led economic evaluation will assess the equity-informative extended cost-effectiveness of the programme and generate evidence to support decision-making in Lesotho and other low-resource settings.
ComBaScale will also explore implementation challenges such as stigma and gender dynamics, while actively involving community members and people with lived experience. In addition, it will develop tools, training materials and practical guidance to support wider adoption of effective community health worker-led models of care.
More info: Two Horizon Europe projects awarded to ITM | Institute of Tropical Medicine
First published: 23 September 2026
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