Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T15:10:37.379Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.World Bank (2019) Current health expenditure (% of GDP). Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS. Accessed 2019.Google Scholar
2.Saleh, K (2013) The health sector in Ghana: A comprehensive assessment. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
3.Schieber, G, Cashin, C, Saleh, K, Lavado, R (2012) Health financing in Ghana. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Wang, H, Otoo, N, Dsane-Selby, L (2017) Ghana national health insurance scheme: Improving financial sustainability based on expenditure review. World Bank Studies. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Ministry of Health Republic of Ghana (2015) Ghana health financing strategy. Available at: http://www.moh.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Health-Finance-Strategy-160203045304.pdf. Accessed 2019.Google Scholar
6.Ministry of Health Republic of Ghana (2017) 2015 national health accounts. apps.who.int/nha/database/DocumentationCentre/GetFile/55881721/en.Google Scholar
7.Merriman, B, Wilkerson, T, Heath, M, Kelly, B, Eghan, K (2016) Ghana health insurance analysis 2016. Submitted to the US Agency for International Development by the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program. Arlington, VA: Management Sciences for Health.Google Scholar
8.Chalkidou, K, Glassman, A, Marten, R, et al. (2016) Priority-setting for achieving universal health coverage. Bull World Health Organ 94, 462-467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Chalkidou, K, Lord, J, Gad, M (2018) Improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare services in Ghana through HTA (version 1; not peer reviewed). F1000Research 7, 364.Google Scholar
10.Chalkidou, K, Culyer, AJ (2016) Making choices on the journey to universal health care coverage: From advocacy to analysis. Value Health 19, 910-912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Wilkinson, T, Sculpher, MJ, Claxton, K, et al. (2016) The international decision support initiative reference case for economic evaluation: An aid to thought. Value Health 19, 921-928.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Doherty, JE, Wilkinson, T, Edoka, I, Hofman, K (2017) Strengthening expertise for health technology assessment and priority-setting in Africa. Global Health Action 10, 1370194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Downey, LE, Rao, N, Guiness, L, et al. (2018) Identification of publicly available data sources to inform the conduct of Health Technology Assessment in India (version 2; peer review: 3 approved) F1000Research 7, 245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.MacQuilkan, K, Baker, P, Downey, L, et al. (2018) Strengthening health technology assessment systems in the global south: a comparative analysis of the HTA journeys of China, India and South Africa. Global Health Action 11, 1527556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Li, R, Ruiz, F, Culyer, AJ, Chalkidou, K, Hofman, KJ (2017) Evidence-informed capacity building for setting health priorities in low- and middle-income countries: A framework and recommendations for further research. F1000Research 6, 231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Lopert, R (2017) Institutionalising Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in Ghana to support access to new health technologies. Final Inception Report PATH and ADP.Google Scholar
17.Lloyd, R, Gleed, G, Wallach, S (2018) International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI) theory of change review report (version 1; not peer reviewed). F1000Research 7, 1659 (document).Google Scholar
18.University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg (2019) Health Economics. The Masters and Diploma in Public Health. Available at: https://www.wits.ac.za/publichealth/academic-programmes/postgraduate/master--diploma-in-public-health/. Accessed 2019.Google Scholar
19.Liu, W, Shi, L, Pong, RW, et al. (2018) Determinants of knowledge translation from health technology assessment to policy-making in China: From the perspective of researchers. PLoS One 13, e0190732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Chalkidou, K, Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, I (2018) Key messages from setting priorities fairly: Sustainable policies for effective resource allocation (version 1; not peer reviewed). F1000Research 7, 1621 (document).Google Scholar
21.Ministry of Health Republic of Ghana (2017) Essential medicines list. 7th ed. Accra, Ghana: Ghana National Drugs Programme (GNDP), Ministry of Health.Google Scholar
22.Ministry of Health Republic of Ghana (2017) Standard treatment guidelines. 7th ed. Accra, Ghana: Ghana National Drugs Programme (GNDP), Ministry of Health.Google Scholar
23.Ministry of Health Republic of Ghana (2018) National medicines policy. Accra, Ghana: Ghana National Drugs Programme (GNDP), Ministry of Health.Google Scholar
24.Ministry of Health Republic of Ghana (2018) National health summit 2018: Aide Memoire. Available at: https://www.idsihealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Martha-Gyansa-Lutterodt.pdf. Accessed 2019.Google Scholar
25.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2018) Ghana launches its AMR Policy and National Action Plan. Available at: http://www.fao.org/ghana/news/detail-events/en/c/1127767/. Accessed 2019.Google Scholar
26.Mukanga, D (2018) West Africa Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (MRH) program launched. Available at: https://globalforum.diaglobal.org/issue/february-2018/west-africa-medicines-regulatory-harmonization-mrh-program-launched/. Accessed 2019.Google Scholar
27.World Health Organization (2015) 2015 Global Survey on Health Technology Assessment by National Authorities. Main findings. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.Google Scholar