What do we need to know? Data sources to support evidence-based decisions using health technology assessment in Ghana
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Date
2020-04-28
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Health Research Policy and Systems
Abstract
Background: Evidence-based decision-making for prioritising health is assisted by health technology assessment
(HTA) to integrate data on effectiveness, costs and equity to support transparent decisions. Ghana is moving
towards universal health coverage, facilitated mainly by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) established in
2003. The Government of Ghana is committed to institutionalising HTA for priority-setting. We aimed to identify
and describe the sources of accessible data to support HTA in Ghana.
Methods: We identified and described data sources encompassing six main domains using an existing framework.
The domains were epidemiology, clinical efficacy, costs, health service use and consumption, quality of life, and
equity. We used existing knowledge, views of stakeholders, and searches of the literature and internet.
Results: The data sources for each of the six domains vary in extent and quality. Ghana has several large data
sources to support HTA (e.g. Demographic Health Surveys) that have rigorous quality assurance processes. Few
accessible data sources were available for costs and resource utilisation. The NHIS is a potentially rich source of data
on resource use and costs but there are some limits on access. There are some data on equity but data on quality
of life are limited.
Conclusions: A small number of quality data sources are available in Ghana but there are some gaps with respect
to HTA based on greater use of local and contextualised information. Although more data are becoming available
for monitoring, challenges remain in terms of their usefulness for HTA, and some information may not be available
in disaggregated form to enable specific analyses. We support recent initiatives for the routine collection of
comprehensive and reliable data that is easily accessible for HTA users. A commitment to HTA will require
concerted efforts to leverage existing data sources, for example, from the NHIS, and develop and maintain new
data (e.g. local health utility estimates). It will be critical that an overarching strategic and mandatory approach to
the collection and use of health information is developed for Ghana in parallel to, and informed by, the
development of HTA approaches to support resource allocation decisions. The key to HTA is to use the best
available data while being open about its limitations and the impact on uncertainty.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Health technology assessment, Ghana, data, health information systems
Citation
Hollingworth, S.A., Downey, L., Ruiz, F.J. et al. What do we need to know? Data sources to support evidence-based decisions using health technology assessment in Ghana. Health Res Policy Sys 18, 41 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00550-8