New Funding Plan Shows Confidence in CCOHTA

January 26, 2001

The Deputy Ministers of Health more than doubled the funds for the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) at a meeting in Ottawa, December 8, 1999. CCOHTA’s five year business plan was approved in full, which will mean an increase in CCOHTA’s annual budget from $1.7M to $3.7M for the first year, rising to $4.32M annually for the subsequent four years.

"CCOHTA will be able to produce more health technology assessments per year, addressing a broader spectrum of topics" states CCOHTA president, Dr. Jill Sanders.

As well as an increase in internal staff, CCOHTA will fund more commissioned assessments, drawing on the expertise of researchers across Canada. A total of $500,000 is targeted to CCOHTA’s horizon scanning activities, a program linked with European countries that alerts health care managers to issues on emerging technologies.

CCOHTA is now in a stronger position to fulfill its mission of synthesizing, coordinating and disseminating health technology assessments. We look forward to working with a network of organizations and scientific experts across Canada in a collaborative effort to meet these goals.

For further information contact Kirk Fergusson: 613 226-2553 ext. 276