Sri Vijaya Puram, October 10: A workshop on Health Technology Assessment (HTA) has brought health researchers and officials together to examine how evidence-based evaluation can support public health decisions and whether HTA activities can be established in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The fourth sensitisation workshop on HTA was organised at the conference hall of ICMR–Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Sri Vijaya Puram, by the Resource Hub for Health Technology Assessment at ICMR–National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai, in collaboration with the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) and ICMR–RMRC, Sri Vijaya Puram.
In his keynote address, Dr. Aparup, Director of ICMR–RMRC, highlighted the role of evidence-based approaches in strengthening healthcare delivery and enabling informed decisions in public health.
The technical sessions examined India’s HTA framework, the role of the Department of Health Research (DHR) and the application of research evidence to healthcare decision-making.
Dr. Balu Venugopal, Scientist C at the HTA Secretariat of DHR, New Delhi, presented an overview of HTA in India and explained the department’s role in advancing evidence-based healthcare decisions.
Dr. M. Muniyandi, Scientist E at ICMR–NIRT, Chennai, led the main technical session, titled “Health Technology Assessment: From Evidence to Decision-Making”. His presentation focused on the relationship between evidence and decisions in healthcare.
Dr. Reshma Raju, Scientist D at the HTA Secretariat, DHR, New Delhi, shared success stories of HTA, adding practical examples to the discussions on its application.
An interactive session involving the resource persons and participating stakeholders focused on whether HTA activities could be initiated and institutionalised in the islands. The discussion examined the feasibility of establishing such activities locally, placing the potential use of evidence-based assessment in the islands’ public health system at the centre of the workshop.
The workshop brought together perspectives from research institutions and health authorities on the use of HTA to inform decisions. Its discussions centred on the scope for introducing and embedding the approach in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
