Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2021Toward Universal Health Coverage Post-COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, advancement toward universal health coverage will become more difficult …
During the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, advancement toward universal health coverage will become more difficult for many countries, demonstrating that locally led priority setting is urgently needed to provide health services with appropriate financial protection to all. Resources are limited and no national constituency can provide an unlimited number of services to their whole population in a sustainable manner, so rationing and setting priorities for the selection of interventions to be included in a defined…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Policy/Regulation | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Distributional Accounting Impact Model of Tobacco Taxation
As with other ‘sin taxes’, tobacco taxes are generally regarded as a highly cost-effective mechanism …
As with other ‘sin taxes’, tobacco taxes are generally regarded as a highly cost-effective mechanism to reduce consumption while also considered to be regressive. This dichotomy undermines efforts to fully implement tobacco taxes at levels recommended by the WHO due to concerns of fairness. This article demonstrates when there are circumstances in which the impacts of additional tobacco taxes are not regressive, using a standard income-share accounting definition of tax burden. The authors apply mathematical…
Mathematical Models | Policy/Regulation -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Policy/Regulation | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2022Emerging Therapies for COVID-19: The Value of Information From More Clinical Trials
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face …
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face of uncertainty. This study aimed to quantify consequences of approving therapies or pursuing further research. The authors used a cohort state-transition model for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to estimate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs associated with multiple drug regimens and usual care. For each they assessed immediate approval, use only in research, emergency use authorization or reject. They conducted cost-effectiveness…
State-Transition | Policy/Regulation | Value of Information | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | North America | Europe -
ArticlePublication 2022Potential Distributional Health & Financial Benefits of Increased Tobacco Taxes in Ethiopia: Findings from a Modeling Study
This study evaluates the potential impacts of Ethiopia's tobacco tax increase in 2020, which raised …
This study evaluates the potential impacts of Ethiopia's tobacco tax increase in 2020, which raised cigarette prices by approximately 67%. Employing parameters such as price elasticity of demand and smoking prevalence, the analysis utilizes existing literature and secondary data to model the effects of the reform on various outcomes, focusing on life years, tax revenues, cigarette expenditures, and catastrophic health expenditures (CHE). Concentrating solely on male smokers due to low female smoking rates, the results…
Mathematical Models | Policy/Regulation | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Child Health Inequity through Case Management of Under-Five Malaria in Nigeria: An ECEA
This study assesses the potential impact of subsidies covering the direct and indirect costs of …
This study assesses the potential impact of subsidies covering the direct and indirect costs of under-five malaria case management in Nigeria, utilizing an extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) and a decision tree model. Findings reveal that fully subsidizing medical, non-medical, and indirect costs could annually avert over 19,000 under-five deaths, 8,600 cases of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), and US$187 million in out-of-pocket (OOP) spending. Per US$1 million invested, this translates to a significant reduction in under-five…
Mathematical Models | Policy/Regulation | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2021Rational Policymaking during a Pandemic
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and …
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and its global impacts are unprecedented, decisions are taken in a highly uncertain, complex, and rapidly changing environment. In such a context, in which human lives and the economy are at stake, the authors argue that using ideas and constructs from modern decision theory, even informally, will make policymaking a more responsible and transparent process.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Policy/Regulation | Decision Theory | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Distributional Health and Financial Consequences of Increased Cigarette Tax in Iran: An ECEA
This study examines the potential impact of a tax-induced cigarette price increase on financial and …
This study examines the potential impact of a tax-induced cigarette price increase on financial and health outcomes across different socioeconomic groups in Iran. Using pooled cross-sectional data from Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (2002–2017) and population data from Iran in 2019, an extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) methodology is employed to model the effects of a hypothetical increase in cigarette tax. The analysis evaluates health benefits, health expenditures averted, additional tax revenues generated, changes in household…
Mathematical Models | Policy/Regulation | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | Middle East & North Africa -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2022Resource Pack: Decision Analysis & Childhood Obesity
This resource pack on childhood obesity was curated by the Center for Health Decision Science …
This resource pack on childhood obesity was curated by the Center for Health Decision Science to showcase existing cost-effectiveness analyses and motivate students, educators, and others to pursue new applications of decision science methods to the public health challenge of obesity. The resource pack was motivated by the NEJM article entitled Simulation of Growth Trajectories of Childhood Obesity into Adulthood published on November 30, 2017, with CHDS co-authors Zach Ward and Stephen Resch. Citation: Ward Z, Long M,…
Costing Methods | Policy/Regulation | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine | North America