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How to break down the barriers to health equality? What does the rise of NICE reveal?
As the medical system becomes increasingly complex, ensuring equal health care for every patient has become a major challenge. Since its establishment, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK has always used its professional health technology assessment to strive to break the inequality in treatment distribution and enable patients everywhere to obtain the medical resources they need. Since 1999, NICE's work has not only covered the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness evaluation of drugs, but also demonstrated its importance in areas such as social care, becoming one of the international role models for health policy.
“NICE was set up precisely to end the so-called postcode lottery in health services in England and Wales.”
The history and development of NICE
NICE was originally established in 1999 to improve standards of clinical care and subsequently merged with the Health Development Agency in 2005 to become the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. In 2013, following changes to the Health and Social Care Act, NICE changed its name to its current name, reflecting its new responsibilities in social care. This change not only enhances its authority but also ensures broader health protection.
“NICE is not only a setter of medical standards, but also a transmitter of ideas, promoting international health policy cooperation.”
NICE’s role in medical technology assessment
NICE's technology assessment process is extremely rigorous and involves input from multiple stakeholders, including patient groups and professional organizations. Through this process, NICE not only evaluates the effectiveness of new medical technologies, but also pays attention to their economic rationality to ensure the best use of public funds. Since 2005, the NHS has been legally obliged to fund drugs and treatments recommended by NICE.
Clinical guidance and social care
In addition to its evaluation of medicines, NICE also publishes a series of clinical guidance covering the best treatments for different diseases, and introduces quality standards and guidance in social care to ensure the quality and accessibility of social care services. Underlying these efforts is a multi-professional collaborative network aimed at encouraging improvement and best practice in social care.
"So far, NICE has issued more than 200 clinical guidance, which has played an important role in improving overall health."
The cost-effectiveness challenge
Decision makers must make choices within limited budgets to ensure the sustainability of health services. NICE uses the concept of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) to conduct cost-effectiveness analyzes of various treatments. For many treatments, exceeding established cost-effectiveness thresholds can lead to non-funding, and NICE is also subject to external pressure and influence, especially from pharmaceutical companies.
NICE’s future outlook
In the context of global health policy facing huge challenges, NICE's role has become increasingly important. As the demand for health care continues to increase, how to continue to improve health equality and ensure that no patient is forgotten will become a major issue in the future. By actively cooperating with the international community, NICE continues to promote the advancement of technology assessment and policy formulation, and promote health improvement on a global scale.
There are many factors that affect health equality. So, how do you think these barriers should be further broken down to realize the right to health for everyone?
