The European Respiratory Society (ERS) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) have issued a joint statement commending Members of European Parliament for voting to adopt legislation on health technology assessments (HTA), expressing that “HTA is fundamental to high-quality healthcare in the EU.”
Health technology assessment is a multidisciplinary process which involves “the systematic evaluation of properties, effects and/or impacts of health technologies and interventions. It covers both the direct, intended consequences of technologies and interventions and their indirect, unintended consequences.” (WHO)
Alongside commending the outcome of the vote, the statement calls for a number of future actions following on from this positive step, including the development of a collaborative framework for the clinical assessment of health technology, which calls on healthcare professionals’ expertise, and a specific call to EU policymakers for a final agreement to be made in advance of the 2019 European elections.