Session (CTI)

Addressing health inequities is crucial to building fair and equitable healthcare systems. While several frameworks have emerged to guide the integration of equity into health technology assessment (HTA), implementation in practice remains limited. HTA agencies often face challenges such as lack of operational guidance, limited access to disaggregated equity - relevant data, and institutional or contextual barriers. Understanding these barriers and identifying facilitators can inform actionable strategies to reduce disparities and the equity implementation gap. This forum will explore practical pathways to implement health equity in HTA decision making processes and present interim findings from the key project conducted by the Health Equity Research Special Interest Group (HER SIG). The forum will bring together global perspectives and stakeholder experiences across regions to share lessons learned and highlight promising practices. The discussion will focus on the following key areas: 1. Overview of current approaches to incorporating health equity in HTA, including preliminary findings from the HER SIG’s key project exploring stakeholder perspectives and barriers and facilitators to implementation across countries. 2. Perspectives obtained through methodology development and implementation of health equity in HTA organizations across different regions, such as Europe and Asia-Pacific and across disease areas, including rare diseases. 3. Practical examples of advancing the implementation of health equity methods such as distributional cost-effectiveness analysis into decision-making processes. 4. Strategies to support integration of equity considerations into local HTA and align methodological approaches with policy needs. The forum will adhere strictly to ISPOR’s Code of Conduct and Antitrust Guidelines. It will be an educational discussion without any promotional intent, ensuring an open and unbiased exchange of ideas. As part of this forum, we welcome perspectives from researchers, HTA assessors, HEOR analysts, and industry stakeholders to collectively explore current state of and pathways to implement health equity in HTA decision making processes.