Background: Health technology assessment and pharmacoeconomic (PE) principles in health care policy and decision making is well recognized and established in developed countries. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), as middle-income country in transition these principles are recognized by law but not implemented in practice. A last decade was marked by rising awareness on this topic and its importance for better resource allocation. Considering current trends in health care expenditure, challenges of health care systems and trends in Europe, it is expected to implement HTA in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Objective: The aim of this article was to assess current status of HTA and pharmacoeconomics use in Bosnia and Herzegovina and propose future directions. Methods: Review and analyse available publications in PubMed, media and legislation in BH on HTA and pharmacoeconomics trends and opportunities. Results: Only 11 papers are indetified in PubMed. Published papers are mainly dealing with issues facing reimbursement and access to medicines and lack of transparency in decision making. Some papers present PE analysis and impact on health care budgets. Review of legislation on reimbursement of medicines show that PE principles are recognized in both entities of BH, while HTA is only recognized in Federation of BH. Conclusion: HTA and PE principles even suggested by law are not implemented in practice. Future challenges of financing health care and improving patient access to innovative pharmaceuticals will require serious consideration of using these tools in decision making.
Key words: Health Technology Assessment, Pharmacoeconomics, Reimbursement, Access.
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