OBJECTIVES: 1) What lessons can be applied from established HTA systems in various OECD countries to the UAE? 2) What form may a HTA strategy devised for the UAE take? 3) What impact could the system have on the UAE health system? METHODS: Literarture review of national health systems and HTA sytems among OECD nations, and interview of officials from the UAE Ministry of Health, the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Health Authority. RESULTS: The UAE health system is uniquely charecterised by central government (Ministry of Health) and local governent (Health Authority Abu Dhabi and Dubai Health Authority) agencies, each with varrying and often overlapping levels of jurisdiction and impact on reimbursement and pricing decisions. Private insurers also play a small, but significant and growing, role in health care coverage in the UAE. In this regard it differs from the centraly governed national health systems with their own national HTA policy (UK, France, Netherlands, Japan, Israel ect..). To date there is no official HTA and Health Economic strategy at the national level in the UAE. CONCLUSIONS: Creation of new National HTA Authority, with specialist health economic and clinical subcomittees. Predominantly advisory role to inform decisions of reimbursment and pricing of new health technologies by central government, individual emirate (local) health systems or private insurers.