Health Technology Assessment Network

Two years ago, on 4 Oct 2018, the European Parliament adopted its Report on the the Proposal for a Regulation on HTA of the European Commission (EC). Stakeholder Experts in the EC’s HTA Network Stakeholder Pool had provided observations and comments for the proposal, including bilateral and multilateral meetings with the Commissioner, in consultations, and in meetings convened with the HTA Network. COVID-19 has rendered the need for coordinated collaboration and a harmonized approach stark; we have found ways to ensure Joint Procurement by the EC, but we are still to see progress on agreement on how to move forward with Joint Assessment.
Nevertheless, on 27 Oct 2020, a meeting of the HTA Network was convened, with EUPHA participating as an observer (Carlo Favaretti and Elena Petelos). In anticipation of a new, ‘compromise’ proposal currently being prepared by the German Presidency, to be released in Nov 2020, a request endorsed by all members of the Pillar in the Healthcare Providers (HCP) was put forth: to ensure continuous engagement, and empowerment, of stakeholders for transparent communication and democratic dialogue, to ensure the Stakeholder Pool remains active and is given the opportunity to contribute until the time when we can have a permanent HTA mechanism for HTA in Europe, including structures for stakeholder involvement and support to tackle all cases of information asymmetry, and safeguarding sound representation from patients, healthcare providers, payers, and, indeed, the industry. Additional comments were submitted to the HTA Secretariat to ensure due emphasis was given on prioritizing public health interventions such as vaccines.