June 16, 2025
PIO gets involved in the new EU regulation on health technology assessment (HTAR)
In March, Maria Löfving Sonesson, chairperson of PIO, and Johan Bechtel, a member of PIO’s board, took part in a workshop organised by the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services. The workshop’s purpose was to introduce patient organisations to the new regulation and discuss how they can be involved in the work within the framework of HTAR.
The purpose of HTAR is to coordinate the HTA work within the EU, so that affected patients in all member states can gain quicker access to new, effective treatments and medical devices. An important detail in the regulation is that patient organisations must be involved in the decisions on an EU level, and PIO is happy that IPOPI is part of the designated group there. The individual EU member states are not required to involve patient organisations in their national assessment process, but the responsible authorities in Sweden think that this is important and have chosen to involve patient organisations in the discussions.
The workshop in March served as an initial introduction to this process and was intended as preparation for the future assessment of a new drug or medical device for our patient group.
