The biggest conference in the world on health technology assessment is on in Ireland this week. 1,206 delegates from 53 countries are attending the largest gathering of experts to look at providing better value for money in healthcare.

Opened by Mary Harney TD, Minister for Health and Children, the conference is a significant boost to the Irish economy, bringing in an estimated €1.8 million in revenue.

“In increasingly difficult economic conditions both in Ireland and globally, budgets for new medicines are being scrutinised more than ever before. The role of HTA in making the best use of the resources we have to increase the benefits to patients is more and more important,” said Dr Máirín Ryan, Director of HTA in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) – the conference host.

The introduction of the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in Irish schools is one example of how Irish people have already benefited from health technology assessment (HTA). The HTA conducted by HIQA informed the Minister for Health and Children’s decision to introduce the vaccine in Irish schools.

The conference is looking at the value of health technology assessment in making decisions about life-saving medicines and treatments. It is focusing on ways of including patients as part of the process and also how social networking and the web can help inform this research. For full details on the conference, including speakers’ profiles, go to www.htai2010.org

Further Information: 

Sinead Whooley, Communications Manager, Health Information and Quality Authority
087 922 1941
swhooley@hiqa.ie