Health Technology Assessment in Tanzania: Capacity and experience of HTA committee members

Background Tanzania established a Health Technology Assessment Committee in recognition of the increasing role of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) to achieve universal health coverage. The committee has the mandate to develop recommendations on the reimbursement of technologies for decision-makers. It is widely recognized that there are challenges to the technical capacity and human resource availability of HTA, including that of decision-making committees. Committee members need to combine scientific and social judgments vis-a-vis the technology under evaluation. This paper reports on a self-administered survey among committee members to assess their capacity for the tasks at hand. Methods A survey was developed and sent to all members of the HTA committee in Tanzania. Responses were analyzed, and key themes explored. Results Out of 20 committee members, 15 members completed the survey (response rate 75%). Committee members were primarily government employees who were qualified and well-experienced in clinical medicine. However, they were less qualified and experienced in HTA and expressed low confidence in this subject matter. Conclusions The results indicate the type of evidence an advisory committee can reasonably be expected to understand and handle. It can also guide future capacity-strengthening activities and programmes, and serve as a baseline for measuring the impact of these programmes.