Effective capacity-building strategies for health technology assessment: A rapid review of international experience

Abstract

This review aims to identify ways to scale up practical support for more systematic, fair and evidence-informed priority setting in health care, first in South Africa and possibly then more widely in the region. This is in the context of relatively under-developed health technology assessment (HTA) capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa. The review draws on: a rapid scan of the literature from low- and middle-income countries on building capacity in health systems and policy research (with a focus on health economics and HTA); the researcher’s own evaluations of capacity-building programmes for health economics and financing in South Africa; the lessons shared by participants at a side meeting on HTA of the Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2015; and the deliberations of a national workshop on HTA run by PRICELESS SA in Johannesburg in March 2015. The focus of the review is on how independent (or quasi-independent) research organisations can contribute to capacity development in HTA. The review treats HTA as comprising the functions of both economic evaluation and broader approaches to priority setting, guided by a conceptual framework for understanding organisational capacity. Recommendations are formulated for the iDSI partnership but may be of use to other research groups, both in South Africa and in other African countries.