CHANDIGARH:
The Regional HTA Resource Centre, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health at PGIMER, Chandigarh, successfully organized an international workshop on “Communicating Science for Policy Making: A Health Technology Assessment Perspective”. The workshop took place today and garnered significant attention from renowned individuals and institutions from both India and abroad.
The workshop welcomed a diverse gathering of 20 distinguished resource persons from five countries, along with more than 150 participants from esteemed medical colleges and institutions in India. The participants delved deep into discussions about the effective communication of scientific evidence for policy making, particularly in healthcare.
During the event, Prof. Vivek Lal, Director of PGIMER Chandigarh, commended the valuable contributions of Ayushman Bharat in enhancing healthcare services in India. Dr. Basant Garg, Additional CEO of the National Health Authority, emphasized how the evidence from Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is employed to design the Ayushman Bharat scheme and determine pricing. Anu Nagar, Joint Secretary in the Department of Health Research, highlighted how HTA evidence on sickle cell disease screening significantly reduced costs by over 1500 crores. Dr. Arun Aggarwal, Head of the School of Public Health, reiterated the importance of fostering collaboration between researchers and policy makers for effective knowledge translation. Dr. Shankar Prinja shared insights on how the PMJAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) has improved access to treatment and reduced individual expenditure.
Dr. Vinod Kotwal, Member Secretary of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, Government of India, brought attention to the challenges faced in real-world evidence utilization, particularly in pharmaceutical product pricing decisions. She discussed the regulatory functions performed by the NPPA and its contributions towards making healthcare more affordable in India.
The workshop also witnessed significant participation from prominent experts from HTA Agencies in Colombia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the World Health Organization, enhancing the global perspective on knowledge dissemination for evidence-based policy making.
This international workshop proved to be a crucial platform for fostering collaboration, sharing experiences, and exploring innovative strategies in communicating scientific evidence for policy making in the realm of health technology assessment. The Regional HTA Resource Centre, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health continues to play a leading role in promoting evidence-based decision making in healthcare in India and beyond.
