Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022Comparative Health Systems Analysis of Differences in Catastrophic Health Expenditure
The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries may have implications …
The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries may have implications for health system performance in the area of financial risk protection, as measured by catastrophic health expenditure (CHE). This article compares non-communicable diseases catastrophic health expenditure to the CHE cases caused by communicable diseases across health systems to examine whether: (1) disease burden and catastrophic health expenditure are linked, (2) Catastrophic health expenditures secondary to NCDs disproportionately affect wealthier households and (3) whether the drivers…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Evidence Synthesis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2014Step-by-Step Guideline for Disease-Specific Costing Studies in LMIC
Disease-specific costing studies can be used as input into cost-effectiveness analyses and provide important information …
Disease-specific costing studies can be used as input into cost-effectiveness analyses and provide important information for efficient resource allocation. This paper provides a step-by-step guideline for conducting disease-specific costing studies in LMICs where data availability is limited and illustrates how the guideline was applied in a costing study of cardiovascular disease prevention care in rural Nigeria. The step-by-step guideline provides practical recommendations on methods and data requirements for six sequential steps: 1) definition of the study…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Healthcare Cost of Overweight & Obesity in South Africa
This analysis estimates the healthcare cost associated with treatment of weight-related conditions from the perspective …
This analysis estimates the healthcare cost associated with treatment of weight-related conditions from the perspective of the South African public sector payer. The authors report that the total cost of overweight and obesity is estimated to be ZAR33,194 million in 2020, representing approximately 15% of government health expenditure and equivalent to 0.67% of GDP. This analysis is an example of a bottom-up gross costing approach. The study draws South African data from multiple sources to estimate…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2020Online Competition between Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Views
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, …
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, for example, could amplify outbreaks as happened for measles in 2019. Homemade remedies and falsehoods are being shared widely on the Internet, as well as dismissals of expert advice. There is a lack of understanding about how this distrust evolves at the system level. Authors provide a map of the contention surrounding vaccines that has…
Preferences/Values | Health Systems | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2020Incorporating Perspective into Clinical Decisions
Part of a six-part series of articles on clinical decision making, in this article, the …
Part of a six-part series of articles on clinical decision making, in this article, the authors discuss how to incorporate perspective into clinical decisions, explicitly acknowledging that the treating physician is not the only stakeholder in these decisions. The authors use 2 case studies to demonstrate how changes in perspective can alter the clinical decision as well lead to both intended and unintended consequences to the outcomes.
Preferences/Values | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2018Trading Bankruptcy for Health: A Discrete-Choice Experiment
This article in Value in Health evaluates the importance of improved health as compared to …
This article in Value in Health evaluates the importance of improved health as compared to improved financial risk protection in the general United States population. Using a discrete-choice experiment, it finds that 31.3% of the population values cure at all costs, and 8.5% of the population use financial solvency to dominate medical decision making. This study shares insight to the US population values and trade-offs between health outcomes and financial health, and highlights the difficult…
Preferences/Values | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticleWeb Portal 2017PLoS Collection: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections
Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than one million new sexually transmitted …
Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than one million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur each day, incurring a very substantial burden of morbidity, mortality and additional infections. The pathogens responsible include bacteria, parasites and viruses, and intensive research is needed to address the substantial barriers to diagnosis and treatment of STIs, and the behavioral challenges of prevention. This PLOS collection, published in collaboration with WHO, focuses on global policy and systems…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Mathematical Models | Dynamic Transmission | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2017Changing the South African National ART Guidelines: The Role of Cost Modelling
This analysis was motivated by the South African Department of Health's request to assess the …
This analysis was motivated by the South African Department of Health's request to assess the cost implications of adopting sets of ART guidelines issued by the World Health Organization between 2010 and 2016.Using data from large South African ART clinics (n = 24,244 patients), projections of patients in need of ART, and cost data from bottom-up cost analyses, the authors constructed a population-level health-state transition model with 6-monthly transitions between health states depending on patients’ age,…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2017Costs of Facility-Based HIV Testing in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Providing HIV testing at health facilities remains the most common approach to ensuring access to …
Providing HIV testing at health facilities remains the most common approach to ensuring access to HIV treatment and prevention services for the millions of undiagnosed HIV-infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors sought to explore the costs of providing these services across three southern African countries with high HIV burden.Primary costing studies were undertaken in 54 health facilities providing HIV testing services (HTS) in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Routinely collected monitoring and evaluation data for…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa