Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2008Adjusting VSL for Age
This article addresses the theoretical ambiguity in the effect of age on the value of …
This article addresses the theoretical ambiguity in the effect of age on the value of statistical life (VSL) using a novel, age-dependent fatal risk measure to estimate age-specific hedonic wage regressions. VSL exhibits an inverted-U-shaped relationship with age. In the year 2000 cross section, workers' VSL rises from $3.7 million (ages 18–24) to $9.7 million (ages 35–44) and declines to $3.4 million (ages 55–62). Controlling for birth-year cohort effects yields a peak VSL of $7.8…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2008Health and Economic Impact of HPV 16 and 18 Vaccination and Cervical Cancer Screening in India
As cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among women in low-income countries, …
As cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among women in low-income countries, with approximately 25% of cases worldwide occurring in India, these authors estimated the potential health and economic impact of different cervical cancer prevention strategies in India. After empirically calibrating a cervical cancer model to country-specific epidemiologic data, they projected cancer incidence, life expectancy, and lifetime costs (I$2005), and calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (I$/YLS) for the following strategies: pre-adolescent vaccination of…
Microsimulation | Clinical Care | Calibration/Validation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2007Including Boys in an HPV Vaccination Program: A CEA in a Low-Resource Setting
This paper looks at the cost-effectiveness of including boys vs girls alone in a pre-adolescent vaccination …
This paper looks at the cost-effectiveness of including boys vs girls alone in a pre-adolescent vaccination program against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in Brazil. Using demographic, epidemiological, and cancer data from Brazil, the authors developed a dynamic transmission model of HPV infection between males and females. Model-projected reductions in HPV incidence under different vaccination scenarios were applied to a stochastic model of cervical carcinogenesis to project lifetime costs and benefits. They found that at 90%…
Microsimulation | Clinical Care | Calibration/Validation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Latin America & Caribbean -
ArticlePublication 2007Modeling HPV and Cervical Cancer in the U.S. for Analyses of Screening and Vaccination
This paper discusses a model of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer that incorporates uncertainty …
This paper discusses a model of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer that incorporates uncertainty about the natural history of disease that was used to provide quantitative insight into U.S. policy choices for cervical cancer prevention. The authors developed a stochastic microsimulation of cervical cancer that distinguishes different HPV types by their incidence, clearance, persistence, and progression. For each set of sampled input parameters, likelihood-based goodness-of-fit (GOF) scores were computed based on comparisons between model-predicted…
Microsimulation | Clinical Care | Calibration/Validation | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2007Mortality-Risk Valuation and Age
This article addresses whether a single value of statistical life (VSL) should be applied to …
This article addresses whether a single value of statistical life (VSL) should be applied to all age groups or whether lower values should be used for the elderly, recognizing that their life expectancies are shorter than those of younger people. Surveys of different age groups' willingness to pay (WTP) for mortality-risk reductions can potentially help resolve this issue. The 36 studies reviewed suggest that the literature is split on whether older people have a lower WTP…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ReviewPublication 2003Public Health Policy and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
This chapter presents an overview of the uses for cost-effectiveness analysis and disease-simulation modeling to …
This chapter presents an overview of the uses for cost-effectiveness analysis and disease-simulation modeling to rigorously evaluate alternatives to reduce mortality from cervical cancer. Scientific advances have provided opportunities over time to revisit strategies for cervical cancer prevention. How to invest health resources wisely, such that public health benefits are maximized-and opportunity costs are minimized-is a critical question in the setting of enhanced cytologic screening methods, human papillomavirus DNA testing, and vaccine development. Developing sound…
Mathematical Models | Policy/Regulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Global -
ReviewPublication 2001Modeling for Health Care and Other Policy Decisions: Uses, Roles and Validity
This is a review article of the role of modeling approaches to guide decision making …
This is a review article of the role of modeling approaches to guide decision making in health care and other domains. The role of models to support recommendations on the cost-effective use of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals is controversial. At the heart of the controversy is the degree to which experimental or other empirical evidence should be required prior to model use. The authors argue that the controversy stems in part from a misconception that…
Mathematical Models | Policy/Regulation | Priority Setting/Ethics | Evidence Synthesis | Technology Assessment | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2000Valuing Mortality Risk: Theory and Practice
This article discusses the theoretical foundation and empirical methods for estimating the value of a …
This article discusses the theoretical foundation and empirical methods for estimating the value of a statistical life (VSL). VSL is defined by individuals' preferences for small changes in risk and income, and often used by environmental and other economists to measure the monetary value of reduced mortality risk. The article reviews the dependence of VSL on age, income, baseline mortality risk, and latency.
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
BookPublication 1978Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease
This report from the Institute of Medicine, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery …
This report from the Institute of Medicine, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease, was written to review and critique the decisions made around the 1976 swine flu threat. In 1976, a small group of soldiers at Fort Dix were infected with a swine flu virus that was deemed similar to the virus responsible for the great 1918-19 world-wide flu pandemic. The U.S. government initiated an unprecedented effort to immunize every American against…
Risk Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Decision Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America