Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2021Global Costs, Health Benefits, & Economic Benefits of Scaling Up Treatment and Imaging Modalities for Survival of 11 Cancers
This analysis estimated the costs and lifetime health and economic benefits of scaling up imaging …
This analysis estimated the costs and lifetime health and economic benefits of scaling up imaging and treatment modality packages on cancer survival in 200 countries/territories for patients diagnosed with one of 11 cancers (oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, anus, liver, pancreas, lung, breast, cervix uteri, and prostate). Using a microsimulation model of global cancer survival, the paper evaluated the costs and health and economic benefits of scaling up packages of treatment (chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and targeted…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Cost-Effectiveness & Value-of-Information Analysis Using Machine Learning-Based Metamodeling: A Case of Hepatitis C Treatment
This study compares machine learning (ML)-based metamodels with conventional metamodeling approaches in replicating the outcomes …
This study compares machine learning (ML)-based metamodels with conventional metamodeling approaches in replicating the outcomes of a complex simulation model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) natural history. Three ML-based metamodels (random forest, support vector regression, and artificial neural networks) and a linear regression-based metamodel were developed from the simulation model's 40 input parameters. Performance evaluation included root mean squared error (RMSE) and Pearson's R2 on normalized data. ML-based metamodels generally outperformed linear regression, with random…
Mathematical Models | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine -
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 | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Policy/Regulation | 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 | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2020Infectious Disease Pandemic Planning and Response: Incorporating Decision Analysis
During a pandemic, decisions must be made under rapidly changing, uncertain conditions. Despite advances in …
During a pandemic, decisions must be made under rapidly changing, uncertain conditions. Despite advances in analytical methods for gaining early situational awareness (i.e., of a disease’s transmissibility and severity) and for predicting the likely effectiveness of interventions, a major gap exists globally in terms of integrating this information in policy documents. The authors argue that mathematical and statistical models are important tools for pandemic planning and response. Once an outbreak of pandemic potential has been…
Mathematical Models | Decision Analysis | Health Systems | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Cost-Effectiveness of Hypertension Treatment by Pharmacists in Black Barbershops
The Los Angeles Barbershop Blood Pressure Study (LABBPS) examined the effectiveness and cost of a …
The Los Angeles Barbershop Blood Pressure Study (LABBPS) examined the effectiveness and cost of a one-year pharmacist-led hypertension care intervention in Black-owned barbershops in Los Angeles County, focused on non-Hispanic Black men with uncontrolled hypertension. Using a discrete event simulation, the researchers projected the 10-year health outcomes and health care costs associated with the intervention compared to a control group. The costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were calculated from a health care sector perspective, with…
Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReportPublication 2021Valuing COVID-19 Mortality and Morbidity Risks
In this report, the researchers develop an approach for valuing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity risk …
In this report, the researchers develop an approach for valuing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity risk reductions that builds on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Guidelines for Regulatory Impact Analysis. They review the differences between COVID-19 mortality risks and the types of risks that are more commonly studied, and find that the impacts of these differences on the value of mortality risk reductions (the value per statistical life, VSL) are uncertain. They…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | North America -
ArticlePublication 2020Valuing COVID-19 Mortality Risk
In this article, the author evaluates whether conventional estimates of the value per statistical life …
In this article, the author evaluates whether conventional estimates of the value per statistical life (VSL) in the United States (about $10 million) are appropriate for evaluating policies that affect risk of COVID-19. This estimate may be too large, because: (1) VSL estimates marginal values but COVID-19 risks can be non-marginal; (2) VSL is estimated for the average resident, but COVID-19 mortality is concentrated among the elderly; and (3) the pandemic has caused substantial losses…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Global -
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…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America