On 12th June, the Minister of Health, Adolfo Rubinstein, introduced before the Senate Health Committee the bill to create the Health Technology Assessment Agency -known as AGNET- (Expte. No. 1379-S-2018). The discussion continued a week later with invited specialists. Senators from different blocs expressed general agreement with the initiative but anticipated proposals to change the governance structure of the entity. The proposals will be considered and eventually incorporated into the text before the next meeting of the committee.

In his speech, Minister Rubinstein declared that the creation of the agency is one of the strategic axes of his administration. Through binding technical opinions based on scientific evidence, AGNET will frame coverage policies and guide the incorporation of medicines, technologies and health procedures to the mandatory medical plan, with effectiveness, transparency, opportunity, accessibility, sustainability and equity criteria.

Rubinstein also stressed that the creation of the AGNET will allow to define high-cost treatments coverage policy with objective and scientific criteria and to avoid discretionary decisions.

On Tuesday, 19th June, the Health Committee met again. This time the invited specialists were the President of the Chamber of Argentine Pharmaceutical Laboratories -CILFA-, the former Minister of Health Daniel Gollán, representatives of provincial public health insurance and study centers. All of them stressed the importance of appointing members of the board by public contest. They also agreed to review the structure of the board and its functions to avoid conflicts of interest, while enabling the participation of all interested sectors. Also, to specify the budget sources, and to clarify the agency structure.