Abstract

Japan is the most rapidly aging country in the world, and the sustainability of its health and social care system is a top priority. In order to have a sustainable healthcare system, global protection of healthcare commons through regulations, together with a market mechanism based on societal values, is critical. An evidence-based approach is needed to attain that; however, the current methodologies for this approach have major limitations, such as the lack of common healthcare goals, the retrospective nature of evidence, and the uncertainty and ambiguity of the available data. This opinion paper discusses the challenges in developing a sustainable system and proposes a feasible way to overcome the limitations.

Highlights

  • As countries strive to deliver universal health coverage, the process of deciding which health technologies and interventions to invest in has become increasingly important

  • Participation rate varied by region and country income, with higher response rates from European Region (EUR) (79.2%), South-East Asia Region (SEAR) (72.7%), Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) (61.9%) and Western Pacific Region (WPR) (59.3%), than AMR (37.1%) and African Region (AFR) (36.2%)

  • Civil society representatives were given the opportunity to comment on the recommendations of an Health Technology Assessment (HTA) report in half of the countries

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Summary

Introduction

As countries strive to deliver universal health coverage, the process of deciding which health technologies and interventions to invest in has become increasingly important. Reaching a fair and efficient outcome requires a multidisciplinary process to evaluate the social, economic, organizational and ethical aspects of a health intervention or health technology. This report summarises the methods and main findings of the WHO 2015 Global Survey on HTA. This survey was aimed at HTA conducted by government or national institutes. It was undertaken in response to World Health Assembly Resolution 67.23 This resolution, ‘Health intervention and technology assessment in support of universal health coverage’ called on the WHO Secretariat to assess the status of HTA globally (see Annex III)

Method
Survey responses
Limitations
Report structure
Note on terminology
Utilization of HTA in public sector decision making
Formal ‘information-gathering process’ for decision making
Legislative requirements for considering HTA findings
Purposes of undertaking HTA
Types of technologies or interventions assessed
Scope of HTA and availability of guidelines
Aspects considered in HTA
Guidelines for developing HTA
Institutional capacity and human resources supporting HTA
National HTA organization
Number of staff members in HTA organizations
Requests for HTAs
Professionals involved in HTA preparation and decision making
Governance of HTA process
Conflict of interest declaration
Communicating the outcomes of HTA
Requirements for strengthening HTA capacity
Main barrier for producing HTA and using HTA findings in decision making
Academic or training programmes to support capacity building for HTA
Findings
Main findings

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