Collaboration on research and the sharing of knowledge is at the heart of an agreement signed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Institute of Health Technology Assessment (IETS) in Colombia.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed following a series of activities supported by the British Embassy in Colombia and the Department of International Trade, including a workshop on health technology assessment conducted by NICE International staff in Bogota, Colombia, as part of a wider visit to other Latin American countries in October 2019.
NICE will share their expertise in developing world leading guidance for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) with their counterparts at IETS. This will be the initial focus the collaboration between the two organisations, who will also exchange experiences around the development of specific clinical guidelines and other areas of guidance including quality standards.
A joint plan of activities will be developed in collaboration between leaders at IETS and the NICE International team.
Shared topics of interest, such as new methodologies in health technology assessment, will be part of key research areas that both organisations are keen to work together on. The aim will be to target global impact grants to assist with this work.
IETS will also call upon NICE to provide expert advice in support of knowledge sharing activities with other health technology assessment agencies in the Latin American region.
Jeanette Kusel, Director of NICE Scientific Advice and NICE International, said: "This collaboration shows our commitment to sharing best practice from NICE and learning from other like-minded organisations such as IETS, that use evidence-based decision making to improve their own health and social care systems.
“This will lead to high quality knowledge sharing events and research projects for the benefit of the UK, Colombia and international healthcare system stakeholders."
For IETS, the MoU is a stepping-stone in boosting Colombia’s HTA process and access to the most innovative health technologies in a timely and efficient way.
Adriana Robayo García, executive director of IETS, said: "The agreement will promote, over the next two years, the joint promotion and development of scientific-technological, academic, research and extension activities of each of the agencies."
NICE has had a long-standing relationship with IETS, working together since 2012. This agreement formalises the new working relationship.