10th HTAsiaLink Newsletter: Patient Involvement on HTA

Patient’s perspectives can offer great insights into perceived benefits of health interventions and the challenges and obstacles encountered as a result of the healthcare system. Now at its 10th issue, the HTAsiaLink Newsletter focuses on the theme of Patient Involvement in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). From a global point of view, we feature a cover story written by Dr. Karen Facey and Neil Bertelsen from the Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) (page 5-6). Our cover stories also include discussions from four national settings including Australia (page 9), Korea (page 14-15), Malaysia (page 7-8), and Thailand (page 10-11). Given that patients are ultimately the recipients of health care, their involvement in HTA is significant in order to get a holistic perspective. We are pleased to announce that the next HTAsiaLink conference in 2017 will be held in Vietnam organized by the Health Strategy and Policy Institute (HSPI ).

Looking further at challenges to HTA in Asia, we shift the focus to an interview with Dr. Peter Coyte (page 18-19), a frequent commentator in the HTAsiaLink conferences. In other news, the HTAsiaLink has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA). Another MoU with the EuroScan this October is also underway (page 20-21). The HTAsiaLink as a network is certainly on a path towards progress and there is more to look forward to in the coming years.