21/10/2016 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission launched a public consultation on Friday 2 October on the future form of European cooperation on health technology assessment (HTA) and announced that it was preparing an impact study. HTA is a multidisciplinary process of systematically, transparently, objectively and robustly assessing the ways science and technology are used in health care and disease prevention. It covers medical, social, economic, and ethical issues. European Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has already indicated the direction he would like to see the process take: “The Commission has supported voluntary cooperation on HTA for more than 20 years. Now it is time to take the next step: to build a permanent, sustainable mechanism for EU cooperation”. The consultation will run until 13 January 2017. (JK)