Bhutan
- iDSI has cultivated the growth of Bhutan’s nascent health technology assessment (HTA) system and capacity. Since graduating from Gavi support in 2016, Bhutan has implemented national vaccine provision through their Bhutan Trust Fund. The government has designated the Essential Medicines and Technology Division (EMTD) under the Department of Medical Services of the Ministry of Health to conduct HTA to inform decision-making on new vaccine provision.
Our Impact
iDSI has:

Developed HTA capacity leading to national rollout of PCV-13 vaccine

Supported development of HTA processes and guidelines

Facilitated knowledge sharing at HTAsiaLink and the Prince Mahidol Award Conference
iDSI, through HITAP, has facilitated the HTA movement through providing technical assistance on conducting HTA studies, developing HTA policy processes and stakeholder capacities, and facilitating knowledge sharing with partners in the region and beyond. These activities have generated much local investment in HTA, with Bhutanese colleagues looking to strengthen their HTA systems and apply the principles of evidence-informed priority-setting widely across the health system beyond vaccines.
Using HTA evidence to inform vaccine rollout
Impact
PCV prevents the transmission of pneumococcal bacterial diseases such as pneumonia, otitis media, bacteraemia and meningitis, some of the major causes of morbidity and death among Bhutanese children. The findings showed that both PCV10 and PCV13 offer good value for money in Bhutan but PCV13 yields better health outcomes and has a lower five-year budget impact.
Stakeholders including Bhutan’s High-Level Committee supported the results of the study; subsequently, cabinet members approved the introduction of the vaccine which was introduced into national routine immunization services in 2018.
Following this successful collaboration, Bhutanese stakeholders are now increasingly using HTA in resource allocation decisions. In 2017, EMTD began an economic evaluation of the rotavirus vaccine with support from PATH and iDSI and stakeholder consultation on the proposal was ongoing as of December 2018.
Key reads
- News published on stakeholder consultation meeting link: http://www.kuenselonline.com/moh-explores-introducing-vaccine-against-pneumonia/
- Blog on PCV study: http://www.globalhitap.net/exploring-vaccine-implementation-for-gavi-graduating-countries-bhutans-rotavirus-vaccine-economic-evaluation/
- Policy brief (HITAP) link: http://www.globalhitap.net/projects/introduction-of-pneumococcal-conjugate-vaccine-pcv-in-bhutan/
- Publication (Vaccine Journal) link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X18302354
- Reports on technical assistance: http://www.globalhitap.net/resources/reports-publications-2/
- Blog on the first stakeholder consultation: http://www.globalhitap.net/exploring-vaccine-implementation-for-gavi-graduating-countries-bhutans-rotavirus-vaccine-economic-evaluation/
- Towards the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in Bhutan: A cost-utility analysis to determine the optimal policy option: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29478752
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If introduced, treatment costs of pneumococcal bacterial diseases are expected to decline by 8.5 percent and 13.6 percent respectively for PCV10 or PCV13.National newspaper of Bhutan Kuensel