The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine under the Faculty of Medicine at Universiti Malaya extends its warmest congratulations to its MPH student, Dr Khairil Idham Ismail, for his exemplary scientific contributions at two premier health technology assessment events in Istanbul, Türkiye. Dr Khairil, who serves concurrently as a Senior Principal Assistant Director at the Malaysian Health Technology Assessment Section (MaHTAS), attended the back-to-back HTAi 2026 Annual Meeting and the INAHTA Congress 2026.
To help manage his heavy presentation schedule at the annual meeting, Dr Khairil was selected for a competitive HTAi Participation Grant. This grant recognised his academic and professional commitment, providing him a global platform to exchange health governance ideas with international experts.
During the HTAi conference, Dr Khairil made a significant scientific impact by delivering insights across four distinct tracks focused on shifting HTA into an active system shaper. He served as a co-facilitator for an interactive workshop centred on institutionalising HTA, where he discussed functional autonomy and structural safeguards drawing from Malaysia’s thirty-year HTA journey. He also presented an oral research paper introducing KHIDMAT-Dx, which utilises a multi-dimensional Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis framework to signal health system demands proactively.
Additionally, his poster presentation detailed a collaborative stakeholder approach to building fair and legitimate health benefit packages for Universal Health Coverage. In a dedicated panel session on managing patient involvement within low-resource environments, Dr Khairil highlighted adaptable qualitative strategies such as patient surveys, focus group discussions, rare disease MCDA frameworks development, and the “Suara Kita” blueprint to demonstrate how patient insights can be preserved despite tight budgets. His academic and professional engagement extended into the INAHTA Congress, which focused heavily on the intersection of artificial intelligence and lifecycle health technology monitoring.
Dr Khairil actively participated in discussions regarding how AI can safely assist in updating health recommendations and generating continuous evidence over time. Beyond the structured academic agenda, he established meaningful cross-border connections during the networking sessions. He returned to Malaysia equipped with strengthened global partnerships and practical operational insights. These takeaways will actively support ongoing national efforts to root healthcare resource allocation deeply in transparency, equity, and human lived experiences.
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