OP27 Health Technology Assessment Processes, Characteristics, And Key Differences In High, Middle, And Low-Income Countries Of Asia Pacific Region

Introduction The healthcare sector in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is in a period of rapid growth and exciting innovation. This has led to an increase in the number of APAC countries adopting and implementing health technology assessment (HTA) to assess the clinical, ethical, economic, and societal aspect of healthcare technology. The aim of this study is to provide an updated snapshot of the status of HTA and key differences in selected countries of APAC region. Methods HTA robustness and gap requirements, including its structure, process, use in decision-making and resource allocation processes were assessed through a review of published and gray literature for each of the selected country. A qualitative analysis was carried out by using a set of 15 principles of an International Working Group for HTA Advancement to identify the robustness and key differences in HTA based decision-making process in scoping countries. Results The finding of this study reveals that maturity of HTA determined by country-specific factors, such as presence of independent HTA agency, healthcare funding and expenditure, etcetera, and varies across the high-, middle-, and low-income countries of APAC region. Based on the study’s results, HTA ecosystem of selected countries categorized into rising HTA followed by advancing and mature HTA categories. In addition to the differences in HTA structure, the influence of stakeholder engagement differs among HTA bodies. The variation in the time frame of HTA decisions was significant among countries, with a general lack of awareness and transparency among health policy decision-makers and resulted in longer time for assessment for rising HTA category compared to the advance and mature HTA categories. Conclusions The vision of a comprehensive and robust HTA system can be achieved by implementing a transparent, independent, decision-making, and strongly integrated HTA process in the region. We recommend that efforts should be directed to promote a transparent and sustainable HTA, throughout the low- and middle-income countries of APAC region which eventually, lead to more effective HTA ecosystem.