Myeloma Patients Europe has joined 14 other patient organisations members of the European Union Health Technology Assessment (EUHTA) stakeholder network to issue a joint statement on the publication of the first Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) under the EU Health Technology Assessment Regulation (EUHTAR).

The statement was coordinated by the European Patients Forum (EPF) and welcomes the progress made in engaging patients and carers in the process but makes clear that more needs to be done to ensure the patient voice is meaningfully reflected in how medicines are assessed across Europe.

What the organisations are calling for

The joint statement sets out five key recommendations for improving patient and carer involvement in the JCA process:

• Involving patients and carers from the earliest stages of assessment planning and scoping;
• Strengthening the role of patient organisations in representing broader community perspectives;
• Increasing transparency on how patient input influences assessments and final conclusions;
• Improving the generation and use of evidence on outcomes that matter most to patients, such as quality of life and treatment burden; and
• Ensuring that JCA findings are communicated in clear, accessible language and made available in all official EU languages.