Strengthening capacity for evidence-informed decision-making through implementing health technology assessment (HTA) and HTA institutionalization
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Collaboration with Africa CDC Health Economics and Financing Division (Africa CDC-HEF).
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a continental autonomous health agency of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats. Africa CDC supports African Union Member States in providing coordinated and integrated solutions to the inadequacies in their public health infrastructure, human resource capacity, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters.
A core value of Africa CDC is evidence-informed decision-making about policies, practices, programs and projects by putting the best available evidence from research at the heart of policy development and implementation.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in March 2025, formalized a comprehensive partnership with NIPH together with UiB and UiO to strengthen public health systems in African countries. The partnership with NIPH focuses on various areas, among others implementing HTA. In line with the MoU, NIPH’s current action plan of the NORAD-funded BIS program includes supporting the Africa CDC Health Economics and Financing (Africa CDC-HEF) Division in:
- Building capacity in evidence synthesis and HTA within Africa CDC and its Regional Collaborating Centers and among African Union Members States
- Contribute to institutionalization of HTA in Africa
Current collaborative activities with Africa CDC-HEF
- Organisation of workshops on evidence synthesis and HTA
- Production of rapid reviews on Mpox including:
- Vaccines
- Diagnostics
- Therapies
- Health economic evaluations
- Consultative meetings to develop the HTA institutionalization continental framework
Collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Health and the University of Ghana
NIPH has a long history of collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Health and Universities in Ghana. In terms of EIDM, NIPH has since 2018, together with our partners in iDSI, supported the Ministry of Health’s efforts to institutionalize HTA for strengthening evidence-based health priority setting and decision-making. We have conducted training and capacity building activities, produced public global goods (for example tools to assess HTA-capacity), and co-produced HTAs in support of the HTA Technical Working Group within the Ghana Ministry of Health.
Current collaborative activities
- Support in the production and dissemination of an HTA on anaemia by the HTA Technical Working Group including:
- Technical support from NIPH has been provided in the assessment of clinical effectiveness and safety of Iron III Polymatose Complex identified as a significant cost-driver in the health budget
- NIPH will support in gathering local stakeholders and launch the HTA
- Support to the University of Ghana, School of Public Health including:
- Financing of two PhD-students
- Expertise from NIPH in co-supervising the two PhD-students
Collaboration with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute
In line with the MoU and the NIPH’s current action plan of the NORAD-funded BIS program, we assist the Ethiopian Public Health Institute with strengthening knowledge and skills related to knowledge translation, i.e., the process of making evidence available and applicable for practitioners and decision-makers.
Current collaborative activities
- Establishing the needs of the Knowledge Translation Unit within the Ethiopian Public Health Institute in terms of capacity in evidence synthesis and HTA
