Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program, Nonthaburi, Thailand; Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Value Health Reg Issues. 2021 May;24:187-192. doi: 10.1016/j.vhri.2020.12.011. Epub 2021 Apr 7.
Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a tool for priority setting, has emerged as a means of ensuring the sustainability of a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) system. However, setting up an effective HTA system poses multiple challenges and knowledge exchange can play a crucial role in helping countries achieve their UHC targets. This article reports the results of the discussion during a preconference session at the 2019 HTAsiaLink Conference, an annual gathering of HTA agencies in Asia, which supports knowledge transfer and exchange among HTA practitioners. As part of this discourse, 3 main HTA challenges were identified based on experiences of selected countries in Asia and Africa, namely Bhutan, Kenya, Thailand, and Zambia: availability of funding, building technical capacity, and achieving buy-in among stakeholders for successful translation of HTA research into UHC policy. The potential solutions identified through this South-South engagement included establishing a legal mandate for HTA, building local technical capacity through partnerships and enhancing strategic communication with stakeholders to increase awareness, among others. South-South Knowledge Exchange can therefore be instrumental in sharing lessons learned from common challenges and offer potential solutions to address capacity building initiatives for HTA in LMICs.
卫生技术评估（HTA）作为一种确定优先顺序的工具，已成为确保全民健康覆盖（UHC）系统可持续性的手段。然而，建立一个有效的 HTA 系统面临着诸多挑战，知识交流可以在帮助各国实现全民健康覆盖目标方面发挥关键作用。本文报告了在 2019 年 HTAsiaLink 会议（亚洲 HTA 机构的年度会议）的会前会议上进行讨论的结果，该会议支持 HTA 从业者之间的知识转移和交流。作为本次讨论的一部分，根据亚洲和非洲的一些国家的经验，确定了 3 个主要的 HTA 挑战，这些国家包括不丹、肯尼亚、泰国和赞比亚：资金的可获得性、建立技术能力以及在利益相关者中获得对成功将 HTA 研究转化为 UHC 政策的认可。通过这次南南合作确定的潜在解决方案包括为 HTA 建立法律授权、通过伙伴关系建立本地技术能力以及加强与利益相关者的战略沟通以提高认识等。因此，南南知识交流可以为分享共同挑战的经验教训以及为中低收入国家的 HTA 能力建设倡议提供潜在解决方案提供帮助。
