Who is our team?
In order to introduce the health technology assessment tool in Ukraine in line with best international practice at the national level, the Health Technology Assessment Department (hereinafter – the HTA Department) was established at the State Enterprise “State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine” (hereinafter – the Center) in January 2019, and a multidisciplinary team of experts – clinicians, pharmacists and economists – was formed, which continues to develop and grow.

The procedure of state health technology assessment (hereinafter – HTA) in Ukraine is defined by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 23 December 2020 No. 1300 "On Approval of the Procedure for Conducting State Health Technology Assessment" (hereinafter – the Procedure). The functions of conducting state HTA are assigned to the authorized body of the Center, namely the HTA Department.

Health technology assessment is a multidisciplinary process that uses explicit methods to determine the value of a health technology at different points in its life cycle, with the aim of informing decision-making in order to promote an equitable, efficient and high-quality health system. The value of a health technology can be determined by examining the intended and unintended consequences of its use compared with existing alternatives. These dimensions include clinical effectiveness, safety, costs and economic implications, ethical, social, cultural and legal issues, organizational and environmental aspects, as well as wider implications for the patient, relatives, caregivers and the population. The overall value may vary depending on the chosen perspective of the assessment, the stakeholders and the decision-making context.

The structure of the HTA Department includes:

• Health Technology Assessment Department, consisting of the following units:
  • department for the assessment of clinical efficacy and safety of medical technologies
  • department for evaluation of the economic feasibility of medical technologies
  • department for organizational support and coordination of expert procedures
• Department of Scientific and Analytical Activities and Monitoring of Medicinal Product Prices

What are our areas of activity?

The main tasks of the HTA Department are:

•  Evaluation of medical technologies with regard to clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, organizational issues and safety issues for citizens in connection with the use of medicinal products.
• Ensuring the use of a health technology assessment tool for the practical implementation of a health technology assessment system to inform decisions on coverage/funding of medicinal products and other medical technologies in Ukraine.
•  Monitoring of wholesale selling prices for medicinal products that may be procured by healthcare institutions fully or partially financed from the state and local budgets, by nomenclature of state target programs,
•  Conducting price monitoring of medicinal products for which state price regulation has been introduced, based on data from manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy chains.
•  Organizational support for the functioning of the Expert Committee on Health Technology Assessment of the State Enterprise “State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”.

HTA is a reliable and promising tool for decision-makers in the healthcare system in Ukraine (MoH, NHSU, SE “Medical Procurement of Ukraine”). State HTA is conducted in accordance with the Procedure for Conducting State HTA and the state HTA guidelines, in the following cases:

•  inclusion (exclusion) of medicinal products in (from) the National List of Essential Medicines, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 25 March 2009 No. 333 “Some Issues of State Regulation of Prices for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices” (hereinafter, the National List);
•  inclusion (exclusion) of medicinal products in (from) the lists procured with state budget funds for the implementation of programs and centralized health care measures.
•  application of managed access agreement procedures, extension of their validity (prolongation);
•  procurement of medicinal products by the structural units for health care matters of regional and Kyiv city state administrations for the implementation of regional targeted programs in the cases specified in paragraph 1-2 of the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of March 25, 2009 No. 333 “Certain Issues of State Regulation of Prices for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices”.

Based on expert opinions and recommendations, the medical technology for the relevant treatment regimen is selected that will be the most clinically effective, safe and cost-effective and will cover the largest number of patients to meet unmet medical needs. This is how rational use of financial resources can be achieved: using only those medical technologies that have the highest value for the patient and the state. At the same time, value is determined transparently and objectively, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders.

Employees of the HTA Department of the Center continue to actively cooperate with international partners, participating in international and national events: the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA), Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi), the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA), the International Society for
Pharmacoeconomic Research (ISPOR), and the international technical assistance project “Safe, Affordable and Efficient Medicines” (SAFEMed) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The HTA Department became an associate member of the European Network for Health Technology Assessment EUnetHTA in April 2019, following the participation of the Director of the HTA Department, O.B. Pyniazhko, in the General Assembly and forum in Amsterdam at the invitation of the EUnetHTA organizing committee, and is a member of the international network of HTA agencies (INAHTA) and HTAi. EUnetHTA ensured cooperation among participating countries for the implementation of best HTA practices at the European, national, and regional levels. Experts of the HTA Department took part in the joint international assessment of the relative clinical effectiveness of medicinal products https://www.eunethta.eu/rapid-reas/.

5 years of HTA in Ukraine

In 2024, the HTA procedure in Ukraine turns 5 years old. Thanks to health technology assessment, more clinically effective and cost-effective medicines and treatment regimens have become available to Ukrainian patients.

The development and implementation of the HTA procedure is one of the areas of activity and one of the important functions assigned by the state to the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. In just 5 years, thanks to the joint efforts of all stakeholders, HTA has developed quickly and effectively in Ukraine as a new tool in the health care system.

For the HTA procedure, aspects of its implementation and use, watch the video created with the support of the USAID SAFEMed Project at this link.

From this video you will learn:

• What are medical technologies and how do they help improve patient health?
• Transparency and impartiality are the main factors in conducting the HTA procedure
• How is HTA conducted and what does it include in Ukraine?
• Stages of institutionalization – from the establishment of the HTA Department of the Center (2019) to full integration into the decision-making process (2022)