The ISPOR South African Chapter’s 11th Annual Conference 2022 focused on HTA developments with presentations from outstanding international and local faculty. The conference was hosted online in November 2022, structured as three webinar sessions of two hours each, one week apart. It covered the following topics: the Revision of the South African HTA Methods Guide, HTA for Medical Devices and finally International Developments in HTA.
Webinar One focused on the technical components of the South African HTA method’s guide revision. Attendees were offered the opportunity to ask questions about the current content to Janine Jugathpal (National Department of Health, South Africa), and Maryke Wilkinson (Health Policy Consultant, HTA Methods Guide SA). For comparison, Siobhan Botwright from Thailand also presented on the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program in Thailand and their response to consultation and updating methods.
With Webinar Two we invited global thought leaders Rosanna Tarricone (Italy), Mike Drummond (UK) and Tienie Stander (Dubai/RSA) to speak about how health technology assessment methods are being applied to evaluate medical devices and diagnostic technologies. Key messages in this session focused on the differences between devices and pharmaceutical HTA methods and how to address them.
Finally, with the third webinar of the series, three international developments within HTA were discussed. The first session focused on Value-Based Healthcare and the lessons learned from the Dubai Health Authority in the United Arab Emirates, presented by Mohammed Farghaly (Consultant, Dubai Health Authority). Thereafter, Lorenzo Moja presented on his publication concerning cancer medicines on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines in terms of the process, challenges, and way forward. Melanie Whittington closed the webinar with her talk on the HTA Methods for Health Equity by the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness Research (ICER) in the USA in her capacity as their director of Health Economics.
Submitted by ISPOR SA Board Laurenne James (President), Laura Sawyer (Ex-officio), Mark Brand (President Elect), Hettie Kruger (Treasurer), Susan Lin (Secretary), Tommy Wilkinson, Susan Cleary, Ilanca Fraser and Lovina Naidoo (Co-opted) info@isporsa.co.za