Health Ministry: Independent HTA to Accelerate Access to New Medicines and Medical Devices

The Ministry of Health has officially opened a special pathway called Independent Health Technology Assessment (PTK Mandiri) to reduce the evaluation time for medical innovation feasibility in the country, accelerating public access to the latest medical devices and treatments. Head of the Health Development Policy Agency (BKPK) Asnawi Abdullah stated in Jakarta on Wednesday that through this new pathway, external parties such as academics, the health industry, and patient organisations no longer need to wait for government initiative. Although the process is accelerated, the government continues to prioritise the principle of prudence. “Technology is important, but what is more important is the wisdom in selecting, adopting, and financing that technology through a process based on strong and transparent scientific evidence,” he said. They can now proactively submit feasibility evaluations for new health tools or technologies independently by including scientific evidence. This regulation is based on HK.01.07/Menkes/641/2026 concerning Guidelines for the Implementation of Independent Health Technology Assessment. Similarly, the Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices at the Ministry of Health, L. Rizka Andalusia, described this step as a solution to accelerate the journey of medical innovation to the public while maintaining the health of the state budget. “This acceleration does not reduce the quality of the study results or the independence of the assessment process. The entire process remains solely aimed at the public interest and safety,” she said. Meanwhile, the Head of the Centre for Health Resilience System Policy at BKPK, Lupi Trilaksono, confirmed that independent assessments submitted by external parties must still pass the same rigorous quality standards as regular government evaluations. These two pathways will complement each other to ensure policy is taken accountably. For stakeholders wishing to submit evaluations of new medical innovations, the government has opened a submission window from 9 to 16 July 2026. “The next stage is document evaluation from 10 to 26 July 2026, and the submission of complete study documents from 27 July to 24 August 2026, all conducted online through the Indonesian HTA (Health Technology Assessment) Portal,” he said.