Strengthening cooperation in the field of HTA between the Center and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) – the Center’s team, as part of the delegation from Ukraine, took part in a visit to Oslo.
The goal is to exchange best practices in the field of HTA, to develop the implementation of HTA in Ukraine based on international experience, and to enhance expert capacity.
The delegation included specialists of the Center's HTA Department: Yuliia Malyshevska, Iryna Musiienko, Valeriia Serdiuk and Mariharyta Khmelovska, headed by the Department Director Oresta Piniazhko, as well as representatives of the MoH, the NHSU and patient organizations.
During the two-day visit, the delegation took part in a workshop on improving the use of the HTA tool to enhance stakeholder involvement in assessment processes ("Advancing Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in Ukraine: Stakeholder Perspectives and Pathways for Improvement workshop").
During the training, Oresta Piniazhko and her colleagues shared the goals and functions of HTA in Ukraine and the main developments for the quality application of HTA in practice, in particular regarding the involvement of stakeholders – patients and clinicians – in the HTA procedure.
The parties focused on discussing priority issues, emerging barriers and opportunities to strengthen stakeholder involvement in HTA processes. They also outlined prospects for further cooperation and knowledge exchange.
During the visit, the team learned about the work of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Norwegian Medicines Agency. In particular, their role in HTA processes in Norway; approaches to maintaining registries of cancer patients and the types of data used; implementation of the European Union regulation on joint HTA; and specifics of conducting HTA of medical devices.
"This was our first in-person meeting with our Norwegian colleagues, and we are very grateful to Elina Dale, Knut Nuflot, and their team for the exchange of valuable experience between both sides and the intensive program of the study visit. Why is this important? We had a very productive discussion at NIPH involving stakeholders – the MoH, the NHSU, and, most importantly, representatives of patient organizations, which made it possible to evaluate foreign practice from different perspectives at once, compare it with our local conditions, generate ideas for the further development and improvement of the areas of HTA application in Ukraine, and improve patients' access to new medical technologies," – Oresta Pyniazhko summed up the results of the visit.
