Access to High-Cost Medicines in Wales

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the process and criteria for accessing medicines in Wales through health technology assessment. The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) is a statutory scientific advisory body that is responsible for appraising new medicines for their clinical and cost effectiveness. This chapter describes AWMSG’s current policies and highlights those that facilitate access to high-cost medicines. These include access schemes which propose a discount, rebate or other variation from the list price of a medicine, and policies for appraising medicines for rare diseases and medicines which extend the survival of patients with a short life expectancy (which are invariably high-cost). This chapter also considers the future challenges for improving access to new high-cost medicines for patients in Wales.