Affiliations 

  • 1 The Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Thailand
  • 2 Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • 3 Agency for Care Effectiveness, Ministry of Health, Singapore, Singapore
  • 4 Health Technology Assessment Unit, Department of Health, Manila, Republic of the Philippines
  • 5 Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan
  • 6 National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
  • 7 Discipline of Social & Administrative Pharmacy, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
  • 8 Essential Medicines and Technology Division, Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Health, Thimphu, Bhutan
  • 9 Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
  • 10 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and University of Adelaide Discipline of Surgery, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
PMID: 31594553 DOI: 10.1017/S0266462319000667

Abstract

This paper explores the characteristics of health technology assessment (HTA) systems and practices in Asia. Representatives from nine countries were surveyed to understand each step of the HTA pathway. The analysis finds that although there are similarities in the processes of HTA and its application to inform decision making, there is variation in the number of topics assessed and the stakeholders involved in each step of the process. There is limited availability of resources and technical capacity and countries adopt different means to overcome these challenges by accepting industry submissions or adapting findings from other regions. Inclusion of stakeholders in the process of selecting topics, generating evidence, and making funding recommendations is critical to ensure relevance of HTA to country priorities. Lessons from this analysis may be instructive to other countries implementing HTA processes and inform future research on the feasibility of implementing a harmonized HTA system in the region.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.