Health technology assessment can assist in determining effective funding allocation

In the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy at CGD, and Denizhan Duran, a CGD research assistant in global health, examine a new report (.pdf) by the IMS Institute, which focuses on how countries can advance the responsible use of medicines. "Today, one-fifth of total health spending goes to medicines," they write, adding, "Figuring out how to realize efficiencies in medicines spending is therefore crucial for every country, and for the international funders that support them." They discuss the conclusions and limitations of the report, which supports the findings "of our recent work on priority-setting in health." In effect, they say improved health technology assessment (HTA) agencies "could weigh cost-effectiveness, affordability and other factors in order to decide which medical interventions should receive higher priority in the allocation of scarce public and donor money" (11/14).