India And Sri Lanka Collaborate For Better Health Technology Assessment

The five-day India-Sri Lanka workshop on Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a significant strategic milestone in bilateral healthcare diplomacy and HTA knowledge exchange, underscoring India's commitment to supporting regional health initiatives, senior government officials have said. The knowledge exchange workshop on HTA formally commenced at the Sushma Swaraj Bhawan here, hosted by the Department of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs. It aims to develop a strategic pathway for advancing and institutionalising HTA in Sri Lanka, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Secretary DHR and DG of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), welcomed the delegates and addressed the inaugural session.

According to a ministry statement, Anu Nagar, Additional Secretary, DHR, highlighted the impactful contributions of HTAIn (Health Technology Assessment in India) to India's healthcare landscape, and expressed confidence that this knowledge exchange will benefit the institutionalisation of HTA in Sri Lanka.

The official statement further said that HTAIn plays a pivotal role in evaluating healthcare technologies and ensuring cost-effective, evidence-based health interventions across India.

“The five-day workshop will cover a wide range of topics, including HTA institutional frameworks, governance, methodologies, pricing, and procurement decisions,”it added.

The objectives include identifying potential collaborative initiatives to strengthen HTA capacities and systems in both nations.

To facilitate the process of transparent and evidence informed decision making in the field of health, the government has created an institutional arrangement called the Health Technology Assessment in India (HTAIn) under the Department of Health Research (DHR).

HTAIn is entrusted with the responsibility to collate and where needed generate evidence related to the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and safety of medicines, devices and health programs using the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) approach.

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