Building HTA Capacity in CEE: Is it Possible to Be Made Within a Common Roadmap—From Pilot Projects to Sustainable Systems

Issue: This panel will debate whether it is feasible to develop a comprehensive regional roadmap guiding Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations from fragmented capacity-building activities toward fully integrated, sustainable HTA infrastructures. It will identify core components—governance, financing, and shared data platforms—tailored to CEE contexts. Overview: HTA capacity in CEE is uneven: some countries rely on ad hoc, donor-driven pilots, while others have nascent or partially institutionalized agencies. Consequently, regional harmonization is limited, evidence standards vary, and resource constraints impede sustainability. The diversity of health systems, legal frameworks, and EU integration levels across CEE highlights the need for a context-sensitive roadmap. A common CEE roadmap could address shared challenges: establishing standardized training curricula, aligning legal mandates, defining governance structures, and creating interoperable data systems suited to CEE regulations. This 60-minute session is structured as follows: three 10-minute presentations will outline distinct capacity-building experiences (organizational, institutional, and early-stage perspectives), followed by a 20-minute moderated debate to synthesize lessons, determine actionable steps, and propose a draft roadmap with timelines and collaborative mechanisms. The remaining 10 minutes are reserved for audience Q&A and interactive discussion. Attendees will include national HTA agency representatives, Ministry of Health officials, regional network coordinators, academic researchers, patient advocates, and industry stakeholders. They will gain practical insights into barriers to scaling pilots into permanent HTA bodies, strategies for harmonizing training and mentorship across borders, legal and governance prerequisites for institutionalization, funding mechanisms, and stakeholder engagement models. By session’s end, participants should understand how to collaborate on a phased, region-wide roadmap—from initial pilot design to embedding HTA in national decision-making—and which policy levers and capacity-building tools are essential to sustain a CEE-wide HTA framework.