The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), and the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) are today jointly hosting a meeting of the Heads of HTA Agencies Group (HAG), supported by the Department of Health, at the Convention Centre Dublin as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

With Ireland guiding discussions on the upcoming long-term EU budget during its Presidency, this meeting is an important opportunity to highlight the role of health technology assessment (HTA) in supporting governments across Europe to make evidence-based decisions on funding for different health technologies.

During today’s meeting, Chief Medical Officer Professor Mary Horgan will speak about the value of HTA in improving the sustainability of healthcare systems. There will also be strategic discussions on how the first Joint Clinical Assessments of the EU HTA Regulation are being used by Member States, the evaluation of the EU HTA Regulation itself, as well as what the future of European HTA collaboration looks like.

Commenting on the event, HIQA’s Deputy CEO and Director of HTA, Dr Máirín Ryan, said:

“We are delighted to host this HAG meeting as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU along with our colleagues in the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics. Ireland’s participation in the HAG allows us to collaborate and discuss strategic priorities with our European colleagues and share best practices for managing the common challenges facing our healthcare systems. I would like to thank all of our partners involved in organising this event, including the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, the Department of Health, the Office of Public Works, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Convention Centre Dublin as well as the HAG Secretariat.”

NCPE’s Head of Strategy and External Engagement, and Chair of the EU Member State Coordination Group on HTA, Dr Róisín Adams, commented:

“The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics welcomes the opportunity along with HIQA to invite our European colleagues to Ireland for this important meeting. The NCPE has played a central role in the development and implementation of EU HTA and in cross border working via the Beneluxa and the International Horizon Scanning Initiative. Jointly with HIQA we are looking forward to working with the HAG which has an important strategic role in planning the future direction of EU HTA in partnership with the EU Member State Coordination Group.” 

Further information about this event is available here: https://irish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/events/meeting-of-the-heads-of-hta-agencies-group-hag/.