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This course series explores the intersection of health economics and priority setting in healthcare. With limited resources and unlimited needs, it examines how governments can effectively prioritize interventions. Key criteria such as technical efficacy, operational effectiveness, political desirability, and cost-effectiveness are analyzed. The course provides a framework for understanding burden of disease through Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and offers in-depth discussions on various evaluation methods, including cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses.
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Health Economic Course Series PRIORITY SETTING http://diankusuma.wordpress.com
Economics = study of unlimited needs combined with limited resources • Government intervention required where market fails • Given limited resources and unlimited needs, how does government prioritize its interventions?
Mechanism to decide on Best Use of Resources • Free Markets = price mechanism • Cooperative/community schemes = bottom up • Centralized rational planning (e.g. communist/socialist countries) = top down • Non of these is perfect • Equity? • Efficiency? • Combinations • Importance of clear criteria
Historical Allocation Most widely used method = “give the same last year” If needed adapted to budget changes, inflation etc This avoids difficult choices, BUT -what if needs change (e.g. epidemic)? -what if technology changes (e.g. cheaper provision)? -what if costs change (e.g. economies of scale)?
Criteria for Resource Allocation • Technical Efficacy of intervention – researchers • Operational Effectiveness of interventions – doctors • Political desirability – politicians • Feasibility – planners • Fit within development agenda – donors • Preferences – consumers • Equity – all • Burden of disease – epidemiologist • Costs of interventions - economists
Which interventions save most lives? Burden of disease (BoD) = Total quantity of life years lost due to mortality and morbidity, adjusted for the decreased quality of life experienced due to illness. Measured in: Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) = quantitative indicator of burden of disease that reflects the total amount of healthy life that would be lost, from premature mortality or from some degree of disability during a period of time, due to disease.
DALYs due to early death(Black area measures DALYs; Black+White is a standard life)
Choices behind DALYs • Choice of standard life expectancy for men and women • Severity weight for disabilities: • 1 is severely disabled or death, 0 is healthy • Weight for age which disease occurs: • Children and old < adults • Time preference: • Long term effects “discounted”, • i.e. future is valued less
Example of DALY calculation Girl, 5 years old, treated successfully for deafness, who lives until she is 82,5 Life 82,5 – 5 = 77,5 Disabled life Deafness = 30% disability 1 year of life = (1-30%) = 0,7 year DALY if deaf 77,5 x 0,7 = 54 year DALY lost due to deafness or DALY gained due to treatment 77,5 – (77,5 x 0,7) = 0,3 x 77,5 =77,5 – 54 = 23,5
Different types of economics evaluation 1. Cost effectiveness Used to compare interventions on the basis of a specific health outcome (e.g. DALY saved) 2. Cost utility Used to compare interventions on the basis of a utility-weighted health outcome (e.g. QALY saved) 3. Cost benefit Used to compare interventions on the basis of a monetary value of the health outcome (e.g. $ cost -- $ benefits)
Cost effectiveness of interventions Cost-effectiveness ratio = Cost of intervention DALYs gained Costs: = Direct service costs (fixed and variable) that could be attributed to particular interventions. Excluded: indirect and private costs (government perspective), intangible costs (pain & suffering)
Cost-effectiveness of interventions • Relative concept: • More/less cost-effective interventions • Overall budget • Measurement of costs limited • Measurement of effectiveness limited • Other criteria to prioritize
Priority Setting • Priority interventions are those that: • Address conditions that are a high burden of disease (high DALY loss) • Can be delivered with low cost per DALY gained (cost effective) • “League tables” of interventions: • Low to high cost effectiveness ratio ($/DALY gained) • More or less cost effective
EDR 1993 Package of priority interventions • Public Health • Immunization • School-base health services • IEC on nutrition and FP • Reduction tobacco and alcohol • Improvements of household environment • AIDS prevention • Clinical Services • Maternal health • Family planning • TB • STDs • Child and infant health $12 per capita
Macroeconomics and Health 2001 Essential health services package, scaled up to reach 80-90% of the population by 2015. = $14 per capita for the least developed countries. • Revision: • New interventions added (ART) • New evidence on effectiveness • Updated BoD since 1993 • Country-specific costs • Costs of scaling-up included