Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T13:30:21.957Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investing in Health Wisely: The Role of Needs-based Technology Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Dean T. Jamison ,
Helen Saxenian  and
Yves Bergevin
Dean T. Jamison
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles and The World Bank
Helen Saxenian
Affiliation:
The World Bank
Yves Bergevin
Affiliation:
Canadian International Development Agency and McGill University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Countries worldwide spend huge sums on health—about $1,700 billion a year, or roughly 8% of global income. But the World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health shows that these monies could be spent much more wisely, in the process doing a great deal to help the world's 1 billion poor. Essential national public health and clinical packages are proposed based on assessment of the burden of disease (measured in disability adjusted life years) and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Governments can play a central role in improving the health of their citizens: they can foster an environment that enables households to improve health and they can also improve their own spending on health, targeting it to support universal access to essential national public health and clinical packages based on the above methods. This is a good example of the concept of needs-based technology assessment, combining the disciplines of epidemiology, economics, and policy formulation. When applied, it should lead to improved effectiveness, efficiency, and equity.

Type
Special Section: Needs-Based Technology Assessment: Who Can Afford Not to Use It?
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , Fall 1995 , pp. 673 - 684
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Bobadilla, J-L., & Saxenian, H.Designing an essential national health package. Finance & Development, 1993, 30, 10–13.Google Scholar
2.Hecht, R., & Musgrove, P.Rethinking the government’s role in health. Finance & Development, 1993, 30, 6–9.Google Scholar
3.Jamison, D., Mosely, W. H., Measham, A. R., & Bobadilla, J-L., (eds). Disease control priorities in developing countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
4.Jamison, D. T., Bobadilla, J-L., Hecht, R., et al. World Development Report 1993: Investing in health. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
5.Murray, C. J. L., Lopez, A. D., & Jamison, D. T.The global burden of disease in 1990: Summary results, sensitivity analysis and future directions. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 1994, 72, 495–509.Google ScholarPubMed
6.Tan, J-P., & Hill, K.The foundation for better health. Finance & Development, 1993, 30, 14–16.Google Scholar