Session (CTI)

ISSUE: European health systems consistently state that prevention is a priority, yet funding and evaluation arrangements historically prioritise treating disease. Prevention interventions generate benefits over long time horizons across sectors. These benefits may not be fully recognised within existing HTA and funding structures, which typically assess value based on direct patient outcomes and within annual spending cycles. As a result, prevention may be supported in principle but disadvantaged in practice. This panel will examine the drivers of underinvestment in prevention and debate how HTA methods, policy and funding arrangements need to evolve to realise the long-term, cross-sector and societal value of preventive interventions. OVERVIEW: Alex Porteous will highlight dissonance between European commitments to disease prevention, limited funding dedicated to preventive care, and the continuing clinical and economic burden of preventable illness. Alex will argue that progress will continue to be limited without conceptual and structural shifts in HTA and health funding systems that incentivise investment (10 minutes). Grace Hampson will discuss the economics of prevention, including challenges associated with economic evaluation, funding, and adoption of preventive health interventions, followed by opportunities to promote investment and uptake through innovative financing. An International Policy Speaker will argue that prevention should be viewed through the lens of capital investment and economic development, examining governance barriers, budget silos and short political time horizons that drive underinvestment, and highlighting the need for integrated governance models and international coordination. James Jarrett will highlight how these challenge manifest in practice, outlining challenges in the evaluation of HIV prevention.