Dear Colleagues

A special issue of the International Journal of Technology Assessment has been published and may be of interest to some of you. What is nice about this volume is that as well as providing papers on the state of HTA in a number of European countries, the volume also provides reflections from commentators in a range of different disciplines which illustrates the need to think about this issues beyond our own disciplinary boxes. Information below and link to journal.

David McDaid
LSE Health and Social Care

Volume 20 - Issue 01 - January 2004
CONNECTING TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT TO PRIORITIES IN HEALTH CAREGuest Editors: Adam Oliver, Elias Mossialos, and Ray Robinson

http://journals.cambridge.org/bin/bladerunner?REQUNIQ=1083927188&REQSESS=5736070&117000REQEVENT=&REQINT1=216403&REQAUTH=0

Health technology assessment and its influence on health-care priority setting
Adam Oliver, Elias Mossialos, Ray Robinson
pp 1-10
In this article, we review the development of health technology assessment (HTA) in England and Wales, France, The Netherlands, and Sweden, and we summarize the reaction to these developments from a variety of different disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives (political science, sociology, economics, ethics, public health, general practice, clinical medicine, patients, and the pharmaceutical industry). We conclude that translating HTA into policy is a highly complex business and that, despite the growth of HTA over the past two decades, its influence on policy making, and its perceived relevance for people from a broad range of different perspectives, remains marginal.

Health technology assessment in England and Wales
Andrew Stevens, Ruairidh Milne
pp 11-24

Overview of health technology assessment in France
Jacques Orvain, Bertrand Xerri, Yves Matillon
pp 25-34

Technology assessment, priority setting, and appropriate care in Dutch health care
Marc Berg, Tom van der Grinten, Niek Klazinga
pp 35-43

Health technology assessment and priority setting for health policy in Sweden
Per Carlsson
pp 44-54

Health technology assessment in four countries: response from political science
David Chinitz
pp 55-60

Health technology assessment: a sociological commentary on reflexive innovation
Andrew Webster
pp 61-66

Health technology assessment and policy from the economic perspective
Frans Rutten
pp 67-70

Ethical perspectives on health technology assessment
Henk ten Have
pp 71-76

Health technology assessment and public health: a commentary
Walter W. Holland
pp 77-80

View of health technology assessment from the swampy lowlands of general practice
Iona Heath
pp 81-86

Health-care technology assessment: a clinical perspective
Cyril Chantler
pp 87-91

Perspectives on health technology assessment: response from the patient's perspective
Angela Coulter
pp 92-96

Pharmaceutical industry's perspective on health technology assessment
Mickael Lothgren, Mark Ratcliffe
pp 97-101