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The statement by Raftery, that “although Australia, New Zealand, and
Canada have systems that judge the cost effectiveness of drugs, they do
not assess other health technologies”, should not go unchallenged1. In New
Zealand, the New Zealand Health Technology Assessment unit (NZHTA) has
been assessing health technologies since 1997. Technologies considered
have included devices, procedures, screening programmes and settings of
care. Full details of our publications are available from our website at http://nzhta.chmeds.ac.nz/publications.htm.
Reference
1. Raftery J. NICE work: review of NICE’s recommendations, 1999-2005. BMJ
2006;332: 1266-8.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
31 May 2006
Robert P Weir
Director
NZHTA, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand
Review of NICE's recommendations: New Zealand also assesses non-drug technologies
The statement by Raftery, that “although Australia, New Zealand, and
Canada have systems that judge the cost effectiveness of drugs, they do
not assess other health technologies”, should not go unchallenged1. In New
Zealand, the New Zealand Health Technology Assessment unit (NZHTA) has
been assessing health technologies since 1997. Technologies considered
have included devices, procedures, screening programmes and settings of
care. Full details of our publications are available from our website at
http://nzhta.chmeds.ac.nz/publications.htm.
Reference
1. Raftery J. NICE work: review of NICE’s recommendations, 1999-2005. BMJ
2006;332: 1266-8.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests