LATIN AMERICA WASTE MONEY ON HEALTH
“In Latin America, health resources are being wasted and the Da Vinci surgical robot is an example of this,” said Spanish Laura Sampietro-Colom, president of the Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi), an integrated scientific society, during her visit to Argentina. by 59 countries that met for the first time in Latin America.
This and other interesting statements took place in Buenos Aires on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22 at the First Regional Congress of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in Latin America and on Monday, the 25th and Tuesday, the 26th, days in which a international seminar on this topic. Both events were organized by the Institute of Clinical and Health Effectiveness (IECS), an Argentine non-profit organization that has more than a decade of experience.
Sampietro-Colom, who in addition to being the president of HTAi is a doctor in medicine and surgery and has more than 20 years of experience in technology evaluation, stated: “There is very little evidence that the Da Vinci robot brings any added value to the surgeries. It has many limitations. I have evaluated it from a scientific point of view, from the evidence, I have evaluated its costs (it costs more than a million dollars) and I see that it is not really cost-effective. Even at the level of clinical practice, surgeons who have tried it see many limitations. I am convinced that the future of surgery lies in robotics, but there has been an exaggerated diffusion of the first versions of the robot and what this does is waste resources. There has been a marketing boom that makes it seem that the surgeon who does not have a robot is nobody and that is not the case.”
The Da Vinci robot, as well as drugs, surgical techniques, treatments and diagnostic methods (such as tomography, MRI, endoscopy, etc.), are health technologies, explains the Dr. Adolfo Rubinstein, director of the IECS. Their evaluation is essential because it allows money to be invested transparently, based on scientific evidence and seeking equity in patient care.
“Doctors and specialists who work in the health industry know that there are many interests at stake. All companies in the sector seek to be profitable, sell their products and services, but some neutral body must take a critical look and - based on scientific evidence - say whether or not a technology is beneficial for patients, as well as measure its effectiveness. effectiveness and efficiency,” explained Dr. Andrés Pichón Riviere, director of the STD Department of the IECS, executive director of said entity and vice-president of INAHTA (International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment).
In this sense, Pichón Riviere confirmed: “Millions of dollars are being wasted in Latin America. A lot of money is allocated to technologies that have no benefit for the population or that have limited benefit, while there are people who do not have access to basic care such as vaccines, treatments for infections and the prevention of diseases during pregnancy. The correct evaluation allows measures to be taken to avoid these inequalities, and makes it easier for decision-makers (politicians and other authorities linked to health) to act with transparency when faced with, for example, the purchase of medicines, vaccines, equipment, etc.”
The First STD Congress in Latin America made it clear that some countries are ahead of others. “Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are the three countries in the area that are most advanced in STDs,” evaluated Sampietro-Colom.
For her part, Claudia Vaca, pharmacist, pharmacoepidemiologist and advisor to the Colombian Ministry of Health, said that her country does not have an organization that evaluates health technologies. “The major health problems that are occurring in the Colombian system, particularly with the increase in expenses caused by high-cost diseases (such as cancer, HIV, hemophilia, etc.) have forced the national government to start working on a evaluation system. “It is the perfect political moment for it,” she opined.
For her part, the advisor of the area of Health Systems based on Primary Health Care of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Analía Porrás, stressed that said international organization is working on the formation of a bank that allows comparing the price of high-cost medications that are common to some countries. The objective of this initiative is to pave a path that aims to equalize and reduce the market values of medicines.
With more than 200 attendees, the Regional Congress helped promote the development of technology assessment in the region. It was organized by the IECS and the Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) with the support of the Ministries of Health of Argentina, Brazil, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA).
Press contact: Mariana Comolli: Tel.: (011)4777-8767– mcomolli@iecs.org.ar
LINKS OF INTEREST
Congress program: http://www.htai.org/index.php?id=662
HTAi page and speakers' resume: http://www.htai.org/index.php?id=517
IECS page: https://www.iecs.org.ar/
INAHTA page: http://www.inahta.org
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
IECS:
• The Institute of Clinical Health Effectiveness (IECS) is a non-profit organization that specializes in the training of professionals, research and technical cooperation with the objective of improving the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, quality, safety and sustainability of health services in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• HTAi:
The Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) is an international scientific society made up of 59 countries. This global network acts as a neutral forum for collaboration and exchange of information and scientific experience in health technology assessment.