Cross-Country Conversations: Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Experiences from India and Thailand
Belt and Road: Cross-National Learning to Support Evidence-Informed Practice in Pediatric Healthcare
ต้องการข้อมูลเพิ่มเติม ติดต่อฝ่ายสื่อสารองค์กร HITAP
Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Centre for Children’s Health of China are committed to advancing skills in conducting comprehensive clinical evaluations of medicines. This commitment is evident through a variety of initiatives, including workshops, training, and academic symposia that catalyse knowledge exchange between national and international experts.
In 2021, the hospital held its first training, “Clinical Comprehensive Evaluation of Paediatric Medications”, focusing on elements of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This highly attended virtual event brought together more than 290 pharmacists from 54 hospitals across 20 provinces in China, showing the strong interest and demand for advanced clinical training in paediatric care.
The Beijing Municipal Health Commission has also extended support to such academic exchanges under China’s “Belt and Road” International Talent Exchange Program from 2020. In May 2024, members of the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP) Foundation, Thailand, together with experts from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore (SSHSPH NUS), joined the third symposium on “System Construction of National Medicine Evaluation in Belt and Road Countries”. During this symposium, participants shared insights on processes for developing the list of medicines in China and Thailand, reviewed Health Technology Assessment (HTA) practices in Singapore and Thailand, and explored various evidence types such as those from multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) including real-world data for policy decisions. Methodological approaches, for example, literature reviews and economic evaluations, were also discussed, laying the groundwork for integrating global standards into clinical drug evaluation and HTA.
Figure 1 Chittawan Poonsiri representing HITAP Foundation delivered a lecture in May 2024 on the Thailand experience of HTA in the development of the National List of Essential Medicine (NLEM).
Building on the momentum of this initial engagement, the HITAP Foundation and SSHSPH NUS continued their collaborative support for the National Centre for Children’s Health of China. On September 20-21, 2024, HITAP Foundation and SSHSPH NUS participated and served as speakers and teaching assistants for the advanced training course on “Methodology of Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation of Medicines”. This in-person workshop, conducted in Chinese, blended lectures with practical exercises, guiding participants in independently developing economic models using Microsoft Excel. Following the course, the Beijing Children’s Hospital hosted another symposium on September 22, 2024. This symposium facilitated cross-national learning and a vibrant exchange of evaluation methodologies, research insights, and experiences among experts from China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore, strengthening partnerships within the Belt and Road network.
Figure 2 HITAP team facilitating the practical exercise on Markov modelling during the advanced training, delivered by the SSHSPH.
As part of the learning experience, HITAP Foundation and SSHSPH NUS collected feedback through a survey of the training course. The feedback focused on nine key aspects, such as achieving training objectives, relevance to participants’ needs, content organisation, instructor engagement, and professional development contributions. Overall, participants expressed high satisfaction, with 81.2% giving top scores across all areas. Suggestions for future improvements included extending the duration of the workshop, offering online training materials or pre-course sessions for newcomers to HTA, and providing session recordings for review after the workshop. Participants also expressed interest in learning opportunities on topics such as uncertainty analysis, Artificial Intelligence in HTA, Budget Impact Analysis (BIA), and the HTA landscape of other countries and how this could influence decision-making in their respective settings.
Figure 3 Dr. Yot Teerawattananon delivered a presentation on Developing Health Technology Assessment in Southeast Asia: Lessons for China during the September symposium.
Future plan for the partnership
Beijing Children’s Hospital and HITAP Foundation will continue to exchange and collaborate on several fronts in the future. In addition to focusing on the development and methodology of HTA, both organisations will seek opportunities to work together on conducting relative research, promoting the establishment of international standards, and launching talent exchanges in more health fields. This thus aims to make a meaningful contribution to the development of countries under the “Belt and Road” International Talent Exchange Program.
15 November 2024
