DOH HOLDS HTA WOKSHOP AND POLICY SYMPOSIUM

Attendees of the HTA training workshop (left) and policy symposium (right) Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, 7-9 January  2020

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health Health Technology Assessment unit (HTAU) co-organized  a three-day Health Technology  Assessment Training Workshop and Policy Symposium which kicked off last January 7-9, 2019 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. The event was co-organized with international partners, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP).

The events have convened over 50 participants from countries such as the Philippines, Singapore, Senegal, and Malaysia with participants coming in from the public, private and non-government sectors.

The workshop aimed to provide an overview on the conduct and use of health technology assessment (HTA) to support decision-making on technology and health policy at the national level. The course was targeted for policy makers, healthcare professionals, researchers or lecturers, and professionals in the pharmaceutical or consultancy industries. Through this workshop, the participants were given an opportunity to learn about the basics in conducting HTA and reporting health economic evaluations in accordance with the best practices in the region, and to have a better understanding of several factors in policy decision making that needs to be incorporated into the HTA process.

Meanwhile, the symposium gave participants an opportunity to understand how the role of HTA evolved in the context of universal health coverage (UHC), the current political economy of  UHC, and the demand and supply of HTA in different Asian countries. The discussions during the policy symposium mainly focused on managing high-cost medicines and devices under UHC, assessing non-economic impact of introducing health technologies, and patient engagement in HTA