Special Issue on “Past, Present, Future of Health Technology Assessment”
8．HTA is NICE for Cancer Patients?
2018 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 61-70
Details
2018 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 61-70
The recent developed medicine for various cancer types tends to be highly priced. If those expenssive medicines are sold for the large number of cancer patients with lung cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, etc, the nationwide health insurance systems covering every citizen would be no longer sustainable in Japan. Because of these concerns, the Central Social Insurance Medical Council ― an advisory body of the Health and Welfare minister ― have started discussions about HTA (health technology assessment) since 2005. And then, the assessment will start at next April. It is a very important assessment for keeping sustainability of the medical policy, but on the other side we find some issues which have to be solved, namely lack of human resources, lack of voices from patients and the public, and lack of transparency in policy making processes. HTA in Japan has been lagged compared to the Western countries, and I would expect many more new challenges in Japan and hope to see us learn from the past.
