Resources Repository
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ReviewPublication 2022Diagnostics for COVID-19: Moving from Pandemic Response to Control
Diagnostics are essential in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, with three primary methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 …
Diagnostics are essential in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, with three primary methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections. Each test type remains vital as we shift from responding to controlling the pandemic. Molecular tests, like PCR, are highly precise in identifying viral RNA and are endorsed by the WHO for confirming cases and guiding public health actions. Antigen rapid tests spot viral proteins and, while less accurate than molecular tests, are quicker, more affordable, simpler, and can…
Health Systems | Test Performance | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2023Achieving the Cancer Moonshot Goal
The Cancer Moonshot seeks to reduce age-standardized cancer mortality rates by at least 50% over …
The Cancer Moonshot seeks to reduce age-standardized cancer mortality rates by at least 50% over the next 25 years. This article estimates trends in U.S. cancer mortality for all cancers and the six leading types and reviews opportunities to prevent, detect, and treat these common cancers.
Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Mathematical Models | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2023Estimated Travel Time & Staffing Constraints to Accessing the Ethiopian Healthcare System: Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis
This study investigates disparities in health care access across different income levels and geographic locations …
This study investigates disparities in health care access across different income levels and geographic locations in Ethiopia. Employing a two-step floating catchment area method, the research estimates variations in spatial access to health care and staffing levels at facilities. Average travel time from population centers is calculated and adjusted with provider-to-population ratios. Spearman's rank tests are applied to test hypotheses about the roles of travel time versus staffing in access variations. Results reveal regional disparities,…
Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Health and Financial Risk Protection Outcomes in Economic Evaluations
Extended cost-effectiveness analysis was developed to evaluate health interventions in terms of level and distribution …
Extended cost-effectiveness analysis was developed to evaluate health interventions in terms of level and distribution of health gains and financial risk protection. This information is typically presented in a joint display format. This article develops and applies an algebraic money-metric formulation that incorporates all disaggregated outcomes and finds that ranking of health interventions is sensitive to the decision maker’s aversion to inequality across income groups and that financial risk protection gains are most important to…
Social Determinants | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Modeling the Relative Risk of Incidence and Mortality of Select Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Immunization is one of the most effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives every …
Immunization is one of the most effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives every year. Ethiopia has seen gradual improvements in immunization coverage and access to child health care services; however, inequalities in child mortality across wealth quintiles and regions remain persistent. This paper models the relative distributional incidence and mortality of four vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) (rotavirus diarrhea, human papillomavirus, measles, and pneumonia) by wealth quintile and geographic region in Ethiopia. The authors approach…
Social Determinants | Priority Setting/Ethics | Evidence Synthesis | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Equity Impact of Minimum Unit Pricing of Alcohol
South Africa experiences significant levels of alcohol-related harm. Recent research suggests minimum unit pricing (MUP) …
South Africa experiences significant levels of alcohol-related harm. Recent research suggests minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol would be an effective policy, but high levels of income inequality raise concerns about equity impacts. This paper quantifies the equity impact of MUP on household health and finances in rich and poor drinkers in South Africa. Authors estimate MUP would reduce consumption more among the poorest than the richest drinkers. A MUP policy in South Africa has…
Social Determinants | Priority Setting/Ethics | Chronic Disease/Risk | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Economic Evaluations of Health System Strengthening Activities
Health system strengthening (HSS) activities should accompany disease-targeting interventions in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). Economic evaluations …
Health system strengthening (HSS) activities should accompany disease-targeting interventions in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). Economic evaluations provide information on how these types of investment might best be balanced but can be challenging. This paper conducted a systematic review to evaluate how researchers address these economic evaluation challenges. The authors searches produced 1978 studies, out of which they included 36. Most studies used data from prospective trials and calculated cost-effectiveness directly from these trial inputs, rather than…
Health Systems | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
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…
Health Systems | Costing Methods | Evidence Synthesis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Hospital Closures amid COVID-19
The recent trend of hospital closures in the US has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, …
The recent trend of hospital closures in the US has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals have experienced financial hardship from reduced patient volume and elective surgery cases, as well as the thin financial margins for treating patients with COVID-19. This trend of hospital closures is concerning for patients, healthcare providers, and policymakers. This current opinion piece describes the challenges caused by hospital closures and discusses what policymakers should know based on the existing…
Health Systems | Operations Research | Health/Medicine | North America