XVI Meeting of the Health Technology Assessment Network of the Americas – RedETSA

Dates: June 13 and 14, 2025

Place: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Organization of the meeting

On June 13 and 14, 2025, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), through its Departments of Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies (IMT), as Secretariat of the Health Technology Assessment Network of the Americas (RedETSA) carried out the “XVI Regional Meeting of RedETSA” in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in conjunction with the HTAi Annual Meeting.

The 16th RedETSA Meeting aimed to promote discussion on Health Technology Assessment (HTA), facilitating the exchange of experiences among specialists and managers from the Americas region and international guests. It sought to advance the institutionalization and strengthening of HTA to guarantee access to safe and effective medicines and other health technologies, as well as to ensure the sustainability of health systems through networking.

Central Theme and Topics Discussed

The meeting focused on summarizing the activities of the Network, the Executive Secretariat, and the Executive Committee, and planning future actions to achieve its objectives. The meeting was supported by the Ministry of Health of Argentina.

Key Activities:

The 16th RedETSA Meeting was organized with the support of the Argentine Ministry of Health as the host institution. In addition to the annual meeting of RedETSA members, held on Friday, June 13, a panel discussion and open debate concluded the day's work, highlighting the experiences of Argentina and other countries in the region in the institutionalization of HTA. More than 100 people from 20 countries participated.

On Saturday, June 14, RedETSA organized four free open workshops on: Equity in HTA, Economic Evaluation, GRADE Methodology and Adaptation of HTA reports, key topics in evidence-based health decision-making; in which around 200 people participated in total.

The opening of the event was led by the Minister of Health of Argentina, Mario Iván Lugones, accompanied by Saúl Flores, Alejandro Vilches and Virgilio Petrungaro, and the PAHO/WHO Representative in Argentina, Eva Jané Llopis, accompanied by Cristóbal Cuadrado and Alexandre Lemgruber.

• Connection with HTAi and INAHTA:

The prestigious global organization HTAi held its annual meeting in Buenos Aires in the days following the RedETSA meeting, offering members of the Network an opportunity to participate in a high-level global academic event.

From June 16 to 18, the RedETSA Secretariat and most of the Network's members participated in the HTAi Annual Meeting (scientific congress). At least 44 oral and poster presentations were identified, as well as 16 panels in which RedETSA participated as speakers and/or moderators. On the afternoon of June 18, the RedETSA Secretariat was also invited to the first day of the INAHTA global network meeting, where a presentation on RedETSA and its achievements was given.

Members' Meeting (June 13, 2025)

The closed meeting of members had record participation, with more than 80 people from 37 RedETSA member institutions from 19 countries, in addition to the Executive Secretariat, PAHO staff and the CSAI Foundation of the Spanish Ministry of Health as a guest.

Main objectives:

• To advance the development and institutionalization of Health Technology Assessment in the Americas.
• Summarize the activities of the first half of the year.
• Establish the RedETSA work plan for 2025-2026.

Highlights

• Welcome to new member: The Ministry of Health (SESAL) of Honduras, represented by Alex Rodríguez, presented its work on HTA.
• Achievements and Challenges: The main achievements and challenges in HTA of the countries and institutions were discussed, identifying common advances and challenges.

Special Sessions

Sessions were held with time for discussion and questions from the public:

• New Spanish regulations on HTA and price regulation: Presented by Javier Padilla, Secretary of State for Health, Spain.
• Presentation of the Provincial HTA Agency of Mendoza, Argentina: Jorgelina Álvarez, Director of AETS Mendoza, discussed the integration of HTA in subnational systems.
• Proposed new regulations for RedETSA: Presented by Verónica Gallegos (Mexico), it was voted on and approved by the members present.

Summary of Activities (First semester 2025) and Proposals (2025-2026)

The activities carried out were reviewed and the future work plan was established in the following areas:

• Network Structure and Governance
• Capacity building
• Joint project development/public goods
• Collaborative work with other networks
• Network image and communication
• Financing

Presentation of New Key Document

• “Hospital-based Health Technology Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean”: Presented by Marisa Santos, from the National Institute of Cardiology, Brazil.

RedETSA Meeting 2026

It was announced that the XVII RedETSA Meeting 2026 will take place in Peru, between October and November, organized by the 4 member institutions of RedETSA in that country.

Final Discussion Panel

A panel of national and international experts discussed the current challenges of Health Technology Assessment and its role in health decision-making, focusing on equitable access and the sustainability of health systems in the Americas. The discussion included experiences from Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, identifying similarities, differences, and key recommendations.

The meeting concluded with a message from Cristóbal Cuadrado (PAHO), who highlighted the achievements of RedETSA and the importance of continuing to strengthen HTA in the region.