Smt. Anu Nagar is the Joint Secretary of the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Health Technology Assessment, a touchstone of health policy formulation in several countries – be they developed or developing – will become a bedrock for better healthcare provisioning in India, through the establishment of Health Technology Assessment in India (HTAIn). It is a robust system instilling confidence in health policy-makers in having evidence on the most appropriate, safe and effective technologies be it related to drugs, devices, treatment protocol or a whole treatment programme. This lays the cornerstone for moving towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by optimizing and improving the existing healthcare system in India.
HTAIn, in its advisory role, will provide findings based on evidence-based HTA outcomes to the Department of Health & Family Welfare and State Governments as crucial input at the time of formulation of policy or implementation. The participatory and all-inclusive approach of technology assessment is the strength of HTAIn. Though HTA is in its developing stages today, it is expected that it will take deeper roots tomorrow with assistance from national and international partners that have valuable experience in this field.
