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Dan Chisholm

Publications and source records attributed to Dan Chisholm.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Towards a multi-criteria approach for priority setting: an application to Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Many criteria have been proposed to guide priority setting in health, but their relative importance has not yet been determined in a way that allows a rank ordering of interventions. METHODS: In an explorative study, a discrete choice experiment was carried out to determine the relative importance of different criteria in identifying priority interventions in Ghana. Thirty respondents chose between 12 pairs of scenarios that described interventions in terms of medical and non-medical criteria. Subsequently, a composite league table was constructed to rank order a set of interventions by mapping interventions on those criteria and considering the relative weights of different criteria. RESULTS: Interventions that are cost-effective, reduce poverty, target severe diseases, or target the young had a higher probability of being chosen than others. The composite league table showed that high priority interventions in Ghana are prevention of mother to child transmission in HIV/AIDS control, and treatment of pneumonia and diarrhoea in childhood. Low priority interventions are certain interventions to control blood pressure, tobacco and alcohol abuse. The composite league table lead to a different and more differentiated rank ordering of interventions compared to pure efficiency ratings. CONCLUSION: This explorative study has introduced a multi-criteria approach to priority setting. It has shown the feasibility of accounting for efficiency, equity and other societal concerns in prioritization decisions, and its potentially large impact on priority setting.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Comparative cost-effectiveness of policy instruments for reducing the global burden of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use.

Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use together pose a formidable challenge to international public health. Building on earlier estimates of the demonstrated burden of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use at the global level, this review aims to consider the comparative cost-effectiveness of evidence-based interventions for reducing the global burden of disease from these three risk factors. Although the number of published cost-effectiveness studies in the addictions field is now extensive (reviewed briefly here) there are a series of practical problems in using them for sector-wide decision making, including methodological heterogeneity, differences in analytical reference point and the specificity of findings to a particular context. In response to these limitations, a more generalised form of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is proposed, which enables like-with-like comparisons of the relative efficiency of preventive or individual-based strategies to be made, not only within but also across diseases or their risk factors. The application of generalised CEA to a range of personal and non-personal interventions for reducing the burden of addictive substances is described. While such a development avoids many of the obstacles that have plagued earlier attempts and in so doing opens up new opportunities to address important policy questions, there remain a number of caveats to population-level analysis of this kind, particularly when conducted at the global level. These issues are the subject of the final section of this review.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2005

Cost-effectiveness of first-line antiepileptic drug treatments in the developing world: a population-level analysis.

PURPOSE: To establish the population-level costs and cost-effectiveness of first-line antiepileptic drug (AED) treatments for reducing the treatment gap in developing countries. METHODS: A population model was applied to nine World Health Organization (WHO) developing subregions to estimate the impact of four first-line AEDs in the primary care management of (ICD-10 defined) idiopathic epilepsy and epileptic syndromes: phenobarbitone (PB), phenytoin (PHT), carbamazepine (CBZ), and valproic acid (VPA). The efficacy of treatment was gauged in terms of improvements to both disability and recovery, subsequently adjusted for treatment coverage, response, and adherence. Total population-level treatment effects (measured in disability-adjusted life years or DALYs averted) and treatment costs (measured in international dollars; IUS dollars) were combined to form ratios of cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: Across nine developing WHO subregions, extending AED treatment coverage to 50% of primary epilepsy cases would avert between 150 and 650 DALYs per one million population (equivalent to 13-40% of the current burden), at an annual cost per capita of IUS dollars 0.20-1.33. Older first-line AEDs (PB, PHT) were most cost-effective on account of their similar efficacy but lower acquisition cost (IUS dollars 800-2,000 for each DALY averted). CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of the current burden of epilepsy in developing countries is avertable by scaling-up the routine availability of low-cost AEDs. Critical factors in the successful implementation of such a scaled-up level of service delivery, apart from renewed political support and investment, relate to appropriate training and continuity of drug supply.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed2005

Cost-effectiveness of clinical interventions for reducing the global burden of bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder has been ranked seventh among the worldwide causes of non-fatal disease burden. AIMS: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of interventions for reducing the global burden of bipolar disorder. METHOD: Hospital- and community-based delivery of two generic mood stabilisers (lithium and valproic acid), alone and in combination with psychosocial treatment, were modelled for 14 global sub-regions. A population model was employed to estimate the impact of different strategies, relative to no intervention. Total costs (in international dollars (I$)) and effectiveness (disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted) were combined to form cost-effectiveness ratios. RESULTS: Baseline results showed lithium to be no more costly yet more effective than valproic acid, assuming an anti-suicidal effect for lithium but not for valproic acid. Community-based treatment with lithium and psychosocial care was most cost-effective (cost per DALY averted: I$2165-6475 in developing sub-regions; I$5487-21123 in developed sub-regions). CONCLUSIONS: Community-based interventions for bipolar disorder were estimated to be more efficient than hospital-based services, each DALY averted costing between one and three times average gross national income.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Choosing cost-effective interventions in psychiatry: results from the CHOICE programme of the World Health Organization.

There is increasing recognition at both the international and national level of the disease burden attributed to psychiatric disorders, yet little is known about how much of this burden is or could be averted by current or scaled-up implementation of effective interventions. In addition, little is known about the costs and cost-effectiveness of such interventions in most regions of the world, even though such information is of direct relevance to increased investment and service development. This research report provides an overview of the mental health component of the World Health Organization's CHOICE project, the aim of which is to generate cost-effectiveness evidence for a large number of interventions for leading contributors to disease burden in a range of geographical and epidemiological settings around the world. To date, expected costs (expressed in international dollars) and effects (measured in terms of disability adjusted life years, DALYs) of key pharmacological and psychosocial interventions have been modelled for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and panic disorder. The results of this analysis indicate that the most efficient interventions for common mental disorders (depression and panic disorder) can be considered very cost-effective (each DALY averted costs less than one year of average per capita income), while community-based interventions for more severe mental disorders using older antipsychotic and mood stabilising drugs meet the criterion for being cost-effective (each DALY averted costs less than three times the average annual income). These findings provide relevant new information to health policy makers regarding the relative value of investing in psychiatric care, and in so doing may help to remove one of many remaining barriers to a more appropriate public health response to the burden of these conditions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Resource utilisation for neuropsychiatric disorders in developing countries: a multinational Delphi consensus study.

BACKGROUND: Substantial information is now available at a global and regional level relating to the burden of mental disorders, yet hardly any international data are available on the resources that are needed to respond to this global burden. AIMS: The aim of this study was to develop consensus-driven estimates of resource utilisation, coverage and adherence for key mental health care interventions capable of reducing leading neuropsychiatric causes of disease burden. METHODS: A resource utilisation questionnaire was developed for a series of mental health care interventions for schizophrenia, affective and anxiety disorders, alcohol misuse, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Expert opinion surveys using a Delphi approach were conducted in seven countries (Brazil, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Mexico and Thailand). Initial results were fed back to participants in order to elicit a second, final set of consensus estimates. Mean and median values were calculated, together with measures of dispersion and agreement. RESULTS: Sixty-seven psychiatrists took part in the first Delphi round and 60 completed the seven consensus panels in the second Delphi round. Expected resource use was highest for acute psychosis, mania, severe depression and severe dementia (at least monthly outpatient visits, and over 25% of cases admitted to hospital with an average length of stay one month). Aggregated estimates for current treatment coverage ranged from below 20% for Alzheimer's disease to 60% for epilepsy. Coverage and adherence levels for affective disorders were both below 50%. CONCLUSION: The Delphi technique proved to be a feasible and efficient method for data collection and consensus generation concerning mental health care resource utilisation. Results provide a set of range estimates for mental health resource planning and evaluation in a variety of developing regions.

Delphi Technique↗
PubMed2004

Reducing the global burden of depression: population-level analysis of intervention cost-effectiveness in 14 world regions.

BACKGROUND: International evidence on the cost and effects of interventions for reducing the global burden of depression remain scarce. Aims To estimate the population-level cost-effectiveness of evidence-based depression interventions and their contribution towards reducing current burden. METHOD: Primary-care-based depression interventions were modelled at the level of whole populations in 14 epidemiological subregions of the world. Total population-level costs (in international dollars or I$) and effectiveness (disability adjusted life years (DALYs) averted) were combined to form average and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. RESULTS: Evaluated interventions have the potential to reduce the current burden of depression by 10-30%. Pharmacotherapy with older antidepressant drugs, with or without proactive collaborative care, are currently more cost-effective strategies than those using newer antidepressants, particularly in lower-income subregions. CONCLUSIONS: Even in resource-poor regions, each DALYaverted by efficient depression treatments in primary care costs less than 1 year of average per capita income, making such interventions a cost-effective use of health resources. However, current levels of burden can only be reduced significantly if there is a substantial increase substantial increase in treatment coverage.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Reducing the global burden of hazardous alcohol use: a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Intervention strategies are available for reducing the high global burden of hazardous alcohol use as a risk factor for disease, but little is known about their potential costs and effects at a population level. This study set out to estimate these costs and effects. METHOD: Analyses were carried out for 12 epidemiological World Health Organization subregions of the world. A population model was used to estimate the impact of evidence-based personal and nonpersonal interventions--including brief physician advice, taxation, roadside random breath testing, restricted sales access and advertising bans. Costs were measured in international dollars (I$); population-level intervention effects were gauged in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. Average and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (CERs) were computed. RESULTS: The most costly interventions to implement are brief advice in primary care and roadside breath testing of drivers. In populations with a high prevalence of heavy drinkers (more than 5%, such as Europe and North America), the most effective and cost-effective intervention was taxation (more than 500 DALYs averted per 1 million population; CER < I$500 per DALY averted). In populations with a lower prevalence of heavy drinking, however, taxation is estimated to be less cost effective overall than other, more targeted strategies, such as brief physician advice, roadside breath testing and advertising bans. CONCLUSIONS: The most efficient public health response to the burden of alcohol use depends on the prevalence of hazardous alcohol use, which is related to overall per capita consumption. Population-wide measures, such as taxation, are expected to represent the most cost-effective response in populations with moderate or high levels of drinking, whereas more targeted strategies are indicated in populations with lower rates of hazardous alcohol use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Generalized cost-effectiveness analysis for national-level priority-setting in the health sector.

Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is potentially an important aid to public health decision-making but, with some notable exceptions, its use and impact at the level of individual countries is limited. A number of potential reasons may account for this, among them technical shortcomings associated with the generation of current economic evidence, political expediency, social preferences and systemic barriers to implementation. As a form of sectoral CEA, Generalized CEA sets out to overcome a number of these barriers to the appropriate use of cost-effectiveness information at the regional and country level. Its application via WHO-CHOICE provides a new economic evidence base, as well as underlying methodological developments, concerning the cost-effectiveness of a range of health interventions for leading causes of, and risk factors for, disease.The estimated sub-regional costs and effects of different interventions provided by WHO-CHOICE can readily be tailored to the specific context of individual countries, for example by adjustment to the quantity and unit prices of intervention inputs (costs) or the coverage, efficacy and adherence rates of interventions (effectiveness). The potential usefulness of this information for health policy and planning is in assessing if current intervention strategies represent an efficient use of scarce resources, and which of the potential additional interventions that are not yet implemented, or not implemented fully, should be given priority on the grounds of cost-effectiveness.Health policy-makers and programme managers can use results from WHO-CHOICE as a valuable input into the planning and prioritization of services at national level, as well as a starting point for additional analyses of the trade-off between the efficiency of interventions in producing health and their impact on other key outcomes such as reducing inequalities and improving the health of the poor.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Energy crisis?

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Disaster Planning↗