The research results of the international experience in implementation of the technology assessment (TA) system in health care and pharmacy are given in the article. Six historical periods of formation of TA systems in foreign countries have been identified. It has been determined that at the present stage the development of national programmes for TA is a priority of national policies in health care. The order of TA in Europe, including four stages – preparatory, technological, productive and post-assesment – has been determined, as well as the content of the stages of TA has been formulated. Common approaches to the implementation of TA by European countries have been analyzed and their levels of implementation, funding sources, the main activities of these systems have been identified. It has been found as a result of the analysis that the methods of conducting the evaluation have the most significant differences in the TA systems. These differences are observed at the levels of social political decisions, criteria and methods determining the technology status, terms of conducting the assessment.
Key words: health care; assessment of technologies; national policy in pharmacy; national programmes
