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Implementing health technology assessment in Ghana to support universal health coverage: building relationships that focus on people, policy, and process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2019

Samantha Hollingworth Open the ORCID record for Samantha Hollingworth [Opens in a new window] ,
Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt Open the ORCID record for Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt [Opens in a new window] ,
Lydia Dsane-Selby Open the ORCID record for Lydia Dsane-Selby [Opens in a new window] ,
Justice Nonvignon Open the ORCID record for Justice Nonvignon [Opens in a new window] ,
Ruth Lopert Open the ORCID record for Ruth Lopert [Opens in a new window] ,
Mohamed Gad Open the ORCID record for Mohamed Gad [Opens in a new window] ,
Francis Ruiz Open the ORCID record for Francis Ruiz [Opens in a new window] ,
Sean Tunis Open the ORCID record for Sean Tunis [Opens in a new window]  and
Kalipso Chalkidou Open the ORCID record for Kalipso Chalkidou [Opens in a new window]
Samantha Hollingworth*
Affiliation:
School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt
Affiliation:
Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health, P.O. Box M 44 Ministries, Accra, Ghana
Lydia Dsane-Selby
Affiliation:
National Health Insurance Authority, No. 36, 6th Avenue, Ridge Residential Area, Accra, Ghana
Justice Nonvignon
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 25, Legon, Accra, Ghana
Ruth Lopert
Affiliation:
Université de Strasbourg, 4 rue Blaise Pascal - CS 90032 - F-67081, Strasbourg, France Department of Health Policy & Management, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Mohamed Gad
Affiliation:
Health Economics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, LondonW2 1PG, UK
Francis Ruiz
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Imperial College London, LondonW2 1PG, UK
Sean Tunis
Affiliation:
Centre for Medical Technology Policy, 401 E Pratt St # 631, Baltimore, MD21202, USA
Kalipso Chalkidou
Affiliation:
iDSI, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, LondonW2 1PG, UK Center for Global Development, Washington, DC, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Samantha Hollingworth, E-mail: s.hollingworth@uq.edu.au
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Abstract

Ghana is one of the few African countries to enact legislation and earmark significant funding to establish universal health coverage (UHC) through the National Health Insurance Scheme, although donor funds have declined recently. Given a disproportionate level of spending on medicines, health technology assessment (HTA) can support resource allocation decisions in the face of highly constrained budgets, as commonly found in low-resource settings. The Ghanaian Ministry of Health, supported by the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI), initiated a HTA study in 2016 to examine the cost-effectiveness of antihypertensive medicines. We aimed to summarize key insights from this work that highlights success factors beyond producing purely technical outputs. These include the need for capacity building, academic collaboration, and ongoing partnerships with a broad range of experts and stakeholders. By building on this HTA study, and with ongoing interactions with iDSI, HTAi, WHO, and others, Ghana will be well positioned to institutionalize HTA in resource allocation decisions and support progress toward UHC.

Keywords

Health technology assessmentUniversal health coverageGhanaCapacity building
Type
Perspective
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , 2020 , pp. 8 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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