Resources Repository
-
ArticlePublication 2018HTA and MCDA Solely or Combined? The Case of Priority-Setting in Colombia
Given the limited resources available worldwide, healthcare systems face problems of justice and efficiency related …
Given the limited resources available worldwide, healthcare systems face problems of justice and efficiency related to setting priorities. Two methods, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) have emerged as tools to assist in informed decision-making, but both have advantages and disadvantages. Colombia established a Health Technology Assessment Institute in 2012. The authors discuss challenges faced by the Colombian health system, characteristics of HTA in Colombia and the potential benefits and drawbacks of…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Latin America & Caribbean -
ArticlePublication 2018Resource Allocation in Decision Support Frameworks
Multi-criteria decision-making frameworks expand on typical decision analyses (cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit) by explicitly incorporating value …
Multi-criteria decision-making frameworks expand on typical decision analyses (cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit) by explicitly incorporating value tradeoffs from decision makers and summarizing the performance of investment options. This is done across all chosen dimensions of value, based on the weights provided by the decision makers, but comes at a cost. Currently there is no widely accepted method to suggest how to determine a budget constraint using multi-attribute models or to measure willingness to pay for incremental…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2018Should We Treat Acute Hepatitis C? A Decision and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
This study examines the potential benefits of treating acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection compared …
This study examines the potential benefits of treating acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection compared to deferring treatment until the chronic phase, utilizing a microsimulation model. By projecting long-term outcomes such as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs, the analysis evaluates the cost-effectiveness of initiating therapy during the acute phase. Results indicate that treating acute HCV increases QALYs by 0.02 and costs by $483 per patient not at risk of transmitting HCV, yielding an incremental…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Microsimulation | Decision Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2018Examining Evaluation Methods for Health Equity Policies
This article reviews diverse methods for evaluating public policies that address social determinants of health …
This article reviews diverse methods for evaluating public policies that address social determinants of health equity. Understanding approaches to evaluating public policies is essential in strengthening the evidence base that informs policy change. Examining 50 studies in the article, the authors find that most studies evaluating policies for health equity outcomes use observational research designs and regression techniques to analyze impact. Furthermore, the studies reviewed primarily relied on secondary data, and nearly three out of…
Evidence Synthesis | Health Outcomes | Social Determinants | Global Governance | Government/Law | Global -
ArticlePublication 2018Equity Impact Vaccines May Have on Averting Deaths and Medical Impoverishment
In this analysis, authors estimated the number of deaths averted and the number of cases …
In this analysis, authors estimated the number of deaths averted and the number of cases of medical impoverishment averted of ten antigens and their corresponding vaccines across income quintiles for forty-one low- and middle-income countries. The study found that vaccines administered between 2016 and 2030 would prevent 36 million deaths. Vaccines will have the greatest impact on reducing cases of poverty caused by hepatitis B, helping an estimated 14 million people avoid medical impoverishment. An…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Mathematical Models | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Global Governance | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2018DALYS and QALYs – Does the Choice of Measure Matter?
This article discusses the measurement of health benefits as a key issue in health economic …
This article discusses the measurement of health benefits as a key issue in health economic evaluations. Authors adapted two previously published models, a Markov model for human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, and a pneumococcal vaccination deterministic model (PNEUMO) that reported outputs in QALYs to estimate DALYs in 3 settings, Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom. While the authors found that QALY gains were larger than DALYs avoided in all countries for HPV, differences using QALYs…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Latin America & Caribbean | Europe -
ArticlePublication 2017Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program in Zambia
This article, published in Trials, outlines a protocol for a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and an …
This article, published in Trials, outlines a protocol for a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and an extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) of a comprehensive adolescent pregnancy prevention program in Zambia. The study will be conducted alongside a cluster-randomized controlled trial, which tests the hypothesis that economic support with or without community dialogue is an effective strategy for reducing adolescent childbearing rates. The ECEA will estimate the costs of the intervention packages per unit health and non-health gain…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Child/Nutrition | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
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…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Mathematical Models | Dynamic Transmission | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific -
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…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Operations Research | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific