Knowledge exchange in the time of COVID-19

USING EVIDENCE TO ADDRESS HEALTH CARE CHALLENGES IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES

A three-part webinar series

This short series of webinars examines the introduction of essential new health technologies and approaches in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each event explores how evidence is used to inform specific stages in a typical intervention life-cycle – from identification of priority interventions, to procurement and price negotiation, and monitoring of health service delivery.

The webinar series is led by the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Access and Delivery Partnership (ADP).

Access materials and recordings:

Part1

Identification and prioritization of health technologies

September 9, 2020Completed
The first webinar in the series, "Identification and Prioritisation," explores important features of and issues around priority-setting, beginning with its theoretical background and limitations, its implementation in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) context such as Ghana, the impact of political economy, and the application of priority-setting principles for rationing care in Thailand in the time of COVID-19.
Part2

Procurement of health technologies and price negotiations

September 30, 2020Completed
In the second webinar, "Procurement of Health Technologies and Price Negotiations", we share experiences from Ghana and Thailand that has been tried and tested and has worked in the local context. It showcases how countries can leverage evidence from health technology assessment (HTA) to negotiate a fair price that reflects the value of medical technologies. Finally, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on medical supplies and ways to mitigate from the use of mathematical models to regional efforts.
Part3

Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-informed health service delivery

October 7, 2020Completed
The use of evidence in informing the implementation of health technologies and services is crucial towards ensuring that resources are used optimally in a manner that ensures maximum benefits to all people. In this webinar, we discuss how some LMICs have instituted this process by leveraging different kinds of data to support their national immunization and health service delivery efforts. We address the importance of reorganizing and further strengthening these systems of monitoring and evaluation to support us in times of crises, such as the current COVID-19 outbreak.

About HITAP

HITAP is a research unit under the Thailand Ministry of Public Health, with responsibility for appraising a broad range of health technologies and programmes, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, individual and community health promotion, and disease prevention, as well as social health policy to inform policy decisions in Thailand. HITAP established an international unit in 2013, which draws on its experience to work at the global level with governments, international agencies and non-profit organizations to help strengthen capacity for health technology assessment.