Resources Repository
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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 | North America | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticleWeb Portal 2017PLOS Collection: Economic Efficiency of HIV Services
In order to maximize the value for money for HIV services and increase efficiency without …
In order to maximize the value for money for HIV services and increase efficiency without sacrificing quality, robust and up-to-date data on costs, efficiency and its determinants are needed. This PLOS collection, Economic Efficiency of HIV Services, presents recent, high-quality evidence from low- and middle-income countries on costs and technical efficiency of HIV services and their determinants. These data contribute to the current discussion on optimizing resources for HIV services and can provide programmatic guidance for…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Sub-Saharan Africa | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Operations Research | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2017Revealed Willingness-to-Pay vs. Standard Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds
This study estimates the cost-effectiveness thresholds (CETs) of 16 HIV programs in South Africa. The …
This study estimates the cost-effectiveness thresholds (CETs) of 16 HIV programs in South Africa. The use of CETs based on a country’s income per capita has been criticized for not being grounded in theory or evidence, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). An alternative has been produced for South Africa, based on estimates of life years saved and the country’s committed HIV budget. The authors used a previously -published optimization method to estimate CETs,…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Sub-Saharan Africa | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2017Designing an Optimal HIV Programme for South Africa
This 2017 study compares the traditional and a novel method of comparing cost-effectiveness interventions in …
This 2017 study compares the traditional and a novel method of comparing cost-effectiveness interventions in the context of HIV in South Africa, using a modeling approach. The authors argue that the assumptions of a) independence of interventions, and b) linear scale-up effects do not hold because South Africa has a large domestically funded HIV program with highly saturated coverage levels. The authors therefore aim to better allocate resources for HIV interventions in South Africa when…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Sub-Saharan Africa | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Operations Research | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2008Cost-Effectiveness of Rapid Point-of-Care Prenatal Syphilis Screening in Sub-Saharan Africa
This paper investigates the cost-effectiveness of using rapid point-of-care tests for prenatal syphilis screening among …
This paper investigates the cost-effectiveness of using rapid point-of-care tests for prenatal syphilis screening among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with syphilis prevalence rates as high as 17%, and where traditional multi-test screening methods have been challenging to implement. Focusing on newly available rapid point-of-care screening tests, strategies differed by the initial test [rapid plasma reagin (RPR), immunochromographic strip (ICS)], need for confirmation with Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay, and number of visits required.…
Sub-Saharan Africa | Costing Methods | Test Performance | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2022Health Utility of Drinkers' Family Members
Problematic alcohol use is known to harm individuals surrounding the drinker. This study described the …
Problematic alcohol use is known to harm individuals surrounding the drinker. This study described the health utility of people who reported having a family member(s) whom they perceived as a “problem drinker.” Using a US population dataset, and adjusting for other drinking-related factors, perceiving a family member as a problem drinker was associated with lower health utility on the order of 0.033 (P < 0.001) for a spouse/partner to 0.023 (P < 0.001) for a…
Preferences/Values | North America | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID and the Age–VSL Relationship
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions …
In this article, the researchers explore the approach used to value COVID-19 mortality risk reductions in analyses of lockdowns and other policies. Many rely on a population-average estimate of the value per statistical life (VSL); others adjust VSL for life expectancy at the age of death. The article explores the implications of theory and empirical studies, which suggest that the relationship between age and VSL is uncertain; these uncertainties in turn may affect whether the…
Preferences/Values | North America | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2021Health Opportunity Cost Threshold for CEA in the U.S.
Using a modeled cohort of 100,000 individuals in the United States with private health insurance, …
Using a modeled cohort of 100,000 individuals in the United States with private health insurance, the authors simulated the short-term mortality and morbidity resulting from increased premium related cancelation of insurance coverage. The authors used this model to estimate cost-effectiveness thresholds, in dollars per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained based on health opportunity costs. They reported the number of persons who dropped insurance coverage, resulting number of additional deaths and QALYs lost from mortality and…
Priority Setting/Ethics | North America | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2020Health Gains & Financial Risk Protection Afforded by Public Financing of Selected Malaria Interventions in Ethiopia: An ECEA
This article, published in the Malaria Journal, aims to estimate the expected health and financial …
This article, published in the Malaria Journal, aims to estimate the expected health and financial risk protection (FRP) benefits of universal public financing of key malaria interventions in Ethiopia. An extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) is used to estimate the potential health and FRP benefits of publicly financing a 10% increase in artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLIN), indoor residual spraying (IRS), and a hypothetical malaria vaccine. The results indicate that ACT, LLIN,…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Sub-Saharan Africa | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Health/Medicine