With the introduction of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Asian countries, priority-setting and HTA has become increasingly important.  However, only in the past decade has HTA been used to inform countries’ health programs and policies. As such, HTA agencies are relatively new in Asia.  In 20

What definition of HTA do you subscribe to?Mark: HTA is a term that is used quite loosely. It seems that the formal definition is to provide an assessment of medical technologies using different perspectives including clinical, economic, ethical and technical. But I think the meaning that it has dev

(HITAP, Thailand) On 23-25 January 2017, delegates from the Department of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, visited HITAP to learn about the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) system in Thailand. During the discussion, the application of the Thai expe

The recent Indonesia visit is an illustration of iDSI’s ongoing commitment to building capacity in developing countries. HITAP visits help national bodies learn how to conduct Health Technology Assessments, strengthening decision-making processes and enabling gains in the quantity and quality of hea

Kenya’s President, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta has committed his government to attaining the “Big Four” agenda on 1) Food security, 2) Affordable housing, 3) Manufacturing, and 4) affordable healthcare for all by 2022. This agenda is linked to Kenya’s Vision 2030 which sought to achieve Universal

If we raise the word “addiction” to you, what are the things you are thinking of? Ecstasy? Methamphetamine? Cannabis? That is true. Addiction normally refers to drug addiction or substances that we take into our body and cause desire to retake it again. Addiction also harms both physical and mental

Clare True had autism and periodic seizures, but nothing prepared her family for Christmas Eve in 2006, when the 26-year-old went to bed after watching a movie and stopped breathing.“I got home from a party, went to check on her just after midnight, and she was — she was gone,” said her mother, Jane

To learn how best to prescribe powerful drugs to children, Congress passed a law in the 1990s that rewarded drug makers for conducting clinical studies involving children. Among the incentives for cooperating companies was a possible six-month extension of protection from generic competition after a

In the largest settlement involving a pharmaceutical company, the British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $3 billion in fines for promoting its best-selling antidepressants for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a top diabetes drug, f

Two days after Debra Demidon underwent in vitro fertilization, she gained more than 30 pounds in fluid and suddenly was struggling to breathe.Doctors diagnosed severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a complication seen in some women who undergo fertility treatment. It landed Ms. Demidon in