In 2013, the European Brain Council (EBC) got involved in Advance-HTA, a research project funded by the European Commission and led by the London School of Economics. The objective of this four years project is to advance and strengthen the methodological tools and practices relating to the application and implementation of Health Technology Assessment (HTA).
As a member of the consortium, the EBC is particularly involved in delivering the Work Package 4 ‘Health Technology Assessment and Quality of Life Measurement’, designed to generate new data on health related quality of life (HRQoL), through determined patient groups rather than general population input.
In this context, a new report – Primary Data Collection of Patient Health Related Quality of Life Data and Database Establishment – was recently compiled. This deliverable emphasises the importance of the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) ‘currency’ to determine quantitative and qualitative health gains, and help decision makers weighing the cost-effectiveness ratio of new technologies in comparison with existing ones. Also, the report reflects the fact that some issues that matter to people living with chronic illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid – fatigue for example – are often poorly considered, even though it heavily impacts the quality of life of patients.
The European Brain Council is therefore very pleased of this achievement that will surely pave the way for many others in the course of the project, and look forward to contributing again to Advance-HTA’s work in the future.