During their first face-to-face meeting on 8 March 2022, the Heads of HTA Agencies Group formally endorsed the Proposal for the inclusion of new members within the HAG. The internal document outlines how new members can join the group, what criteria they must fulfil and how the ratification procedure will work. The endorsement paves away for heads to formally invite new members to join the group. Specific information is available below:
Criteria for new members as per the Proposal for the inclusion of new members within the HAG
The Heads of HTA Agencies Group shall be:
- an EU/EEA Member State led body composed primarily of representatives from HTA bodies, agencies or departments that, from an organisational point of view, are governmental, public or standalone independent organisations connected to the healthcare system.
- These organisations should have appropriate HTA expertise and;
- an official mandate in the field covered by the proposed HTAR (Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 of the European Parliament and the Council on HTA later adopted on December 15, 2021, so-called HTAR).
- Likewise, they should work in a scientifically independent manner at a national or regional level and;
- should be free of conflict of interest (as per the Conflict of Interest SOP).”
An EU/EEA Member State will ideally be represented by an independent HTA organisation or department (or more than one, if applicable). In the case of EU/EEA Member States in which such a body is not present, the Member State shall decide by which organisation it would like to be represented in the HAG, considering the criteria outlined above.
Application process
To apply, follow the checklist below and send your organisation’s application to htahag@zinl.nl.
- Specify the name of the organisation and the country.
- Outline how your organisation meets the relevant criteria and why the organisation would like to join the HAG.
- Declare a commitment to follow the principles of the group as stated in the General Principles of Good Cooperation in the field of HTA (available here) and ensure the participation of the head (and subsequently state the full name of the head who would be representing the organisation in the group).
- If your organisation is from a country that already has an organisation represented in the HAG, you must state that you are aware of this and consequently outline the reasons for including another organisation from the same country, in particular with regards to mutually complementary fields of activity. Click here to view existing members of the HAG.
- Reference a contact point for the Secretariat.
- Be signed and dated by the head in question.
Please note, the Heads of HTA Agencies Group operates on a one-Member State-one-vote basis. If there are multiple organisations from the same Member State in the HAG, you may choose to either a) split your vote, or b), designate one organisation as the voting member.
Ratification process
Once an application is received, the Secretariat will assess it for compliance with the criteria for inclusion and the application process. If both steps are completed fully, the application will go to a vote at the next Heads of HTA Agencies Group Meeting. Please note, this process may take up to eight weeks.
If you are unsure about any of the steps listed above, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat at htahag@zinl.nl.
