Since 2017, health technology assessment (HTA) has been included in the Ukrainian Health Law fundamentals and its implementation has accelerated since it became mandatory in 2020. SAFEMed has been supporting the Ministry of Health in integrating HTA into the decision-making ecosystem and building capacity in HTA. In this 2022 to 2023 project, we aimed to create and conduct HTA training for doers, users, and trainers based on a developed model curriculum for an HTA master’s program, and to identify sets of criteria for successful training and training centers.

First, we reviewed websites and documents of current academic HTA master’s and advanced programs worldwide. Second, we performed an assessment of the training needs of HTA doers, users, and trainers in Ukraine using an online survey that captured level of experience and knowledge gaps. Third, we reviewed the capacity and quality requirements of existing academic centers that provide HTA training.

We identified seven HTA master’s programs globally, which covered five HTA domains: (i) health problem and current use of the technology; (ii) description and technical characteristics; (iii) safety; (iv) clinical effectiveness; and (v) costs and economic evaluations. Other aspects of HTA, such as ethical, legal, social, and cultural aspects were also covered, but not in all programs. The needs assessment was completed by 40 doers (53%), users (43%), and potential trainers (5%) of HTA in Ukraine. Specific knowledge gaps included: comparative effectiveness, health economics, qualitative evidence synthesis, patient and public involvement, and ethical issues. The proposed program addresses these gaps and includes an introduction to HTA that is in line with the new HTA definition. We also generated a minimum set of quality assurance criteria to ensure successful training and to develop efficient training centers for delivering HTA programs.

Our study provides a strong foundation for planning and conducting sustainable HTA training for current and future doers, users, and trainers in Ukraine, which can be an example for other countries wishing to increase HTA capacity.