Richard Day of the University of New South Wales, writing in the October 2023 edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, looks at updates to the health technology assessment (HTA) processes in Australia and New Zealand
In April 2023, the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care launched an independent Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Policy and Methods Review of the Australian government’s funding and subsidy schemes for providing medicines, medical services, immunizations, and life-saving drugs to the citizens of Australia. This review is a major commitment under the Strategic Agreement 2022-27 between the Commonwealth of Australia and Medicines Australia, the leading association of the research-based medicines industry in Australia.
Australia’s HTA process relies on scientific evidence to assess the quality, safety, efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of health technologies. As Medicines Australia CEO Elizabeth de Somer noted: “After 30 years, it is long past time for reform to the HTA policies and methods to ensure Australians have timely access to the latest medicines and vaccines.” The review has involved all stakeholders—industry, scientists, clinicians, and patients—and the resulting recommendations are eagerly awaited, and will be implemented in July 2024.
The quality and value of HTA to New Zealand will be boosted by New Zealand’s Pharmac organization becoming the fourth member of a well-established international collaboration between HTA agencies in UK, Canada, and Australia. Chief Executive of NZ Pharmac Sarah Fitt noted Pharmac’s 30-year contribution to optimizing the suite of cost-effective medicines and medical devices available to New Zealanders, and forecast even greater value for New Zealanders from joining this collaborative. Through this agreement, New Zealand will be a welcome contributor to “horizon scanning” for new medicines and devices and the ongoing quest for partners for more effective HTA methodologies needed to unravel the medical, social, economic, and ethical values of products submitted for registration that must be fairly considered and quantified by HTA agencies acting on behalf of their citizens.
