Abstract
The advancement in science has come a long way to support our community though, at the same time, it has threatened the sustainability of the healthcare system. There are many emerging high-cost health interventions, such as screening, high-cost drugs and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). These medicines based on genes, cells and tissues offer innovative pathways to treat diseases. However, these advancements do come at high cost of research and development and elevated profit expectations from their developers, making these interventions inaccessible to most people. These financial pressures may limit access to treatments in the public healthcare system especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Thailand. The issue of health inequity based on the income status of countries remains a concern, which has been visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, there is a need for innovative mechanisms to support the current decision making process to enhance better access to these high-cost treatments. In collaboration with stakeholders, this study aims to address challenges in making reimbursement decisions on high-cost medicines in Thailand. Specifically, this research can help answer: 1) how to define emerging high-cost health interventions; 2) what is the current context of access to high-cost medicines in Thailand; 3) how to evaluate evidence on selected high-cost health interventions (e.g. are there specific evaluation process for high-cost health interventions, which differ from other interventions and what reimbursement mechanisms are possible for the selected high-cost health interventions); and 4) what horizon scanning process is and how it can help access to high-cost medicines.
