The use of off-label medicines is an unexplored area for healthcare priority setting, though it is common practice in countries and can have a significant positive or negative effect on health outcomes and the efficiency of health care systems. It is therefore important to have a rational an

In Bhutan, respiratory infections are some of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children. Pneumonia, an infection of the lungs, is among the top 10 common causes of children’s death in the country. Not only does it impose costs on society that may not be immediately visible (e.g. produ

Cetuximab is provided for mCRC patients with positive KRAS wild type, and also head and neck cancer patients as indicated in the Indonesian National Drug Formulary. However, currently, it is also used for indications not specified in the National Drug Formulary. Adding cetuximab to chemothera

Global health is defined as health issues that transcend national boundaries. This notion implies a shared global responsibility for health and is associated with actors beyond country government. In WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR), the Regional Committee adopted a resolution in 2010 to enco

Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity increase the risks of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, which contribute to approximately 70% of all-cause mortality among Thais. There is a misunderstanding that exercise in leisure time can n

Digital health is an umbrella term that includes all healthcare services that are provided by ICT. From one’s personal wearable devices to the use of big data and AI in healthcare come under digital health’ Under the umbrella of digital health technology, various sub-groups such as electronic

Thailand has successfully implemented economic evaluation to inform the inclusion of new, branded medicines within its National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). This method can be used to assess the health value that new medicines will generate for patients after accounting for the health los

The Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) is a dedicated source of funding in England for increasing patient access to high-cost cancer drugs, with a fixed budget of £340 million per year, operating since 2016. The CDF follows the appraisal by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) whic

This policy brief provides a summary of a recent review of the definition of rare diseases, high cost and how HTA has been used in the case of rare diseases in seven countries. The countries were purposively selected based on them having established HTA policies and availability of resources in the

Because of their rarity, rare diseases are often treated with what the industry refers to as ‘orphan drugs’. These group of drugs are quite expensive because of the fewer number of people suffering from such sickness and usually provide low profit to manufacturer compared to other common drug for n