Evaluating HITAP: 2 years on

"First Step”, a program evaluation report, assessing HITAP’s two-year efforts and providing recommendations for further development of HITAP. This program evaluation was conducted by four external evaluators including Prof. John Cairns, Dr. Kalipso Chalkidou, Prof. Paibul Suriyawongpaisal, and Dr. Jirawat Panpiemras. Moreover, Prof. Mark Sculpher and Prof. Karl Claxton were invited to be reviewer for the report. Experiences and lessons learnt from HITAP development are likely to be useful for other low and middle income countries interested in setting up HTA agencies.

The term “first step” reflects the commencement of a journey or an inauguration. In view of the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP) - an evidence-generating organization for supporting national health policy decisions - a comprehensive assessment of its first two years of operation is crucial. This report comprises 3 chapters, and is the result of-a number of partners’ collaborative efforts. Chapter 1 presents the results of HITAP review conducted by 4 external evaluators over a nine month-period. This review provides an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of this health technology assessment initiative since its establishment in 2007. Chapter 2 is drawn on thorough discussion amongst HITAP staff, and aims to address the evaluators’ recommendations, as well as to seek optimal strategies for further development of the program. Chapter 3 illustrates comments regarding HITAP assessment and also contains a number of additional suggestions made by UK experts in health economics. This helps to extend the benefits of the evaluation as several diverse observations have been obtained. We hope that the dissemination of this report will be helpful for both those directly involved in health technology assessment and those involved with policy research, including policymakers, health professions and researchers in different institutes. Furthermore, it is hoped that the distribution of our experiences and lesson learned indicates transparency, as a component of good governance organization. We are deeply grateful to the Thai Health Promotion Foundation for the grant which provided to carry out the HITAP evaluation. Also, our sincere thanks go to the Health Systems Research Institute, the Ministry of Public Health’s Bureau of Policy and Strategy, the National Health Security Office and many other agencies for their support to HITAP during its first phase (2007-2009).

The title “first step”, implies that subsequent steps will be undertaken until the ultimate goal of our organization can be achieved. We aim to ensure that all the successes, challenges and pitfalls throughout the HITAP journey will be assessed for future improvement. Our first step was fulfilled with the program evaluation, analytical learning and organizational development as illustrated in this report.