Washington, April 27, 2025.– The webinar program of the Health Technology Assessment Network of the Americas (RedETSA) held its 50th edition with the event “50 RedETSA Webinars: Networks that Transform”, a milestone that marks more than a decade of sustained work to strengthen health technology assessment (HTA) in the Region of the Americas.
Since its first webinar in July 2015, the program has established itself as a strategic space for the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and good practices, driven by regional cooperation and the active commitment of network members. The webinars have accompanied and reflected the evolution of HTA in the region, positioning it as a key tool to support evidence-informed decision-making in health systems.
Thematic diversity and capacity building
The 50 webinars have addressed a wide range of topics aligned with regional priorities and with the needs expressed by network members themselves. These include assessments of specific health technologies—such as medicines, medical devices, in vitro diagnostic tests, and digital technologies—economic evaluations, assessment of ethical, social, and equity dimensions, new approaches to evidence and data analysis, networking and collaborative work, and initiatives related to HTA institutionalization, priority-setting, and decision-making.
This thematic diversity has made it possible to accompany changes and emerging challenges in health systems, while strengthening a regional community committed to improving the quality, transparency, and legitimacy of evidence-informed health decision-making processes.
Networks that transform
The 50th webinar highlighted the value of networking as a driver of transformation. Drawing on experiences shared by national health technology assessment networks from Argentina, Brazil, and Peru, as well as by RedETSA itself, the session illustrated how collaboration, interinstitutional coordination, and the exchange of capacities have contributed to consolidating HTA processes adapted to diverse contexts.
These experiences reflect how networking generates synergies, avoids duplication of efforts, and strengthens countries’ technical capacity, while promoting more consistent and equitable decisions regarding access to health technologies.
A growing community
Across these 50 webinars, 85 different speakers participated, representing 50 institutions and organizations from 18 countries, demonstrating the breadth and diversity of voices that make up the RedETSA community. The strong participation of network members themselves as speakers and panelists reinforces the collaborative nature of the program and its role in regional capacity building. Over these 15 years, RedETSA has brought together more than 11,000 participants from 65 countries and territories.
Looking ahead
The celebration of these first 50 webinars reaffirms the value of the RedETSA Webinar Program as a key space for strengthening HTA in the Region of the Americas. At the same time, it points to new challenges and opportunities to continue promoting collective learning, regional cooperation, and the exchange of experiences that bring evidence closer to health decision-making.
