India and the United Kingdom have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in the field of evidence-informed healthcare policy and practice,
Stating this in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said the MoU has been signed between the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, UK to work together on a strategic and technical cooperation on evidence-informed healthcare policy and practice.
Azad said the Department of Health Research and NICE will exchange institutional expertise and experiences concerning the application of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), including topic selection and prioritization of technologies for evaluation, evidence assessment and appraisal, governance and oversight arrangements and consultation processes and the implementation of HTA-based decisions into clinical policy and practice.
The validity of the MoU is for five years from the date of signing and there is a provision for its renewal.
He said steps have already been initiated towards the implementation of the MoU and the mechanism of implementation includes setting up of Joint Steering Committee to translate the commitments of MoU to a real, mutually-beneficial partnership and to steer expertise and enthusiasm of the two countries to create better quality healthcare for the people.
He said the collaboration is likely to benefit the Indian Health sector by bringing modern health technology to people.
