Needs assessment and gap analysis for national health technology assessments in Lebanon.

Background: Developing countries are increasingly adopting health technology assessment as a critical tool for evaluating and addressing challenges related to the use of health technologies in support of Universal Health Coverage, health equity and resource allocation.

Aim: To map health technology assessment resources and identify barriers to national health technology assessments in Lebanon.

Methods: Using a questionnaire survey and focus group discussions, we collected data from key informants who had interest in health technology assessment in Lebanon between May and July 2017 and in July 2018. We analysed the quantitative data descriptively using Microsoft Excel and the qualitative data using NVivo version 12.

Results: Twenty participants completed the questionnaire and 34 attended the focus group discussions. Participants mentioned reimbursement for the use of health technologies and production of clinical guidelines as top priorities for health technology assessment and mentioned the lack of collaboration nationally and lack of agreement among relevant stakeholders as the topmost barriers to assessments. They mentioned safety and effectiveness as the main parameters to be considered in assessments, followed by quality-of-life and burden of illness.

Conclusion: Findings from this study support the need for health technology assessments in Lebanon, beginning with the creation of a national autonomous multidisciplinary entity that will facilitate synergy and consensus-building for the assessments.