The role of environmental evidence in HTA: Comparative insights into global assessment frameworks

Poster introduction:

The World Health Organization has estimated that nearly a quarter of global deaths are caused by environmental pollution (1). With the healthcare sector contributing ~4–5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (2), and chronic disease prevalence rising (3), it is predicted that global emissions from healthcare will reach six gigatons/year by 2050, which is equivalent to the emissions from ~1.26 billion cars (4). As a result, environmental sustainability is becoming a key focus in healthcare.

The first step towards meeting environmental commitments is to measure the impact of health interventions and integrate insights into decision-making frameworks. Environmental impact is a relevant domain for health technology assessment (HTA) agencies; however, there is no agreed decision-making framework, evidentiary standards needed to support claims, or marker for how decision outcomes will be influenced.

Research objective:

The objective of this research was to explore the role of environmental impact within key global HTA agency decision frameworks to identify progress in incorporating environmentally sustainable decision-making in HTA.​

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