The VIII Meeting of the Health Technology Assessment Network of the Americas (RedETSA) took place on October 5, 6, and 7, 2016 in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. Although it was estimated that around 100 participants would attend the meeting, there were more than 200 participants who came from 28 institutions in 14 countries in the region. The meeting allowed the relevant actors of the health system in El Salvador to be introduced to the key concepts of health technology assessment (HTA); to discuss and develop relevant topics and share experiences among RedETSA members and with invited experts; to share progress and challenges of the Network members and to define a work plan for 2017. The meeting was divided into three different sections over three days: an introductory session, the RedETSA meeting in conjunction with the National HTA Forum of El Salvador and the Regional HTAi Meeting, and a closed meeting for RedETSA member countries. 
Day 1 – Introductory Session

• The first section was the introductory session in which the topics developed were about the key concepts of health technology assessment, the importance of HTA for universal health coverage. In the afternoon of the first day, topics such as economic evaluation and its importance for decision-making and capacity mapping were discussed.

Day 1 and 2 – RedETSA Meeting, National Forum on STDs of El Salvador, HTAi

• The next section included the national HTA forum of El Salvador as well as the regional HTAi meeting. The topics discussed during this session included, among others, the advances in the institutionalization of HTA in the Americas, decisions on high-cost drugs, the judicialization of drugs and success stories in the use of HTA.

Day 3 – Closed Meeting

• The last section of the event was a closed meeting for RedETSA members. There were 28 participants representing 23 institutions. The countries represented were Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Uruguay. The Andalusian School of Public Health from Spain also participated. The session focused on the discussion of the activities carried out in 2016 and the main achievements of the countries during the year. Topics also included the website update, exchange program and priorities for 2017.

Each video presentation and slideshow are available at http://www.salud.gob.sv/foroets-salud-sv/ or in our RedETSA page
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