scholarly journals The Case for Valuing Non-Health and Indirect Benefits

2019 ◽  
pp. 207-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Govind Persad ◽  
Jessica du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
Lower Priority ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Total State ◽  
Sizeable Fraction

Health policy is only one part of social policy. Although spending administered by the health sector constitutes a sizeable fraction of total state spending in most countries, other sectors such as education and transportation also represent major portions of national budgets. Additionally, though health is one important aspect of economic and social activity, people pursue many other goals in their social and economic lives. Similarly, direct benefits—those that are immediate results of health policy choices—are only a small portion of the overall impact of health policy. This chapter considers what weight health policy should give to its “spillover effects,” namely non-health and indirect benefits. This chapter defends the view that indirect and non-health benefits should not be given lower priority than direct health benefits in the context of priority-setting in global health.

Measuring the globalization of health services: a possible index of openness of country health sectors to trade

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Significant Aspect ◽  
National Economies ◽  
The Impact

Globalization is a key challenge facing health policy-makers. A significant aspect of this is trade in health services. However, little is currently known about how trade in health services will affect the health of populations and national economies. A key determinant of the impact of trade in health services will be the general economic and trade context of the country concerned. One specific aspect of this is the ‘openness’ of a country’s health sector to trade; yet there is little, if anything, currently known about the most appropriate methods to assess openness of the health sector.

Health policy in developing countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 301-322
Author(s):  
Thein T. Htay ◽  
Yu Mon Saw ◽  
James Levinson ◽  
S.M. Kadri ◽  
Ailbhe Helen Brady ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
High Standards

The purpose of this chapter is to underscore the role of an integrated stewardship process and decentralization of healthcare services through high standards of governance towards effective health policies in developing countries. Changing disease patterns and challenging health status in developing countries calls for a rigorous monitoring and evaluation of prevailing health systems so that their new health policies be able to tackle these emerging health needs. Three stages of health transition and globalization have highlighted their impacts on health problems and health policies. The optimal composition and interactions of actors in health policy have influenced the strategic directions and policy implementation. In implementing the global and national health policies within the context of health system strengthening, national policies will better assure that health priorities in local settings are addressed and country-led while international assistance supports the health sector priorities. With the creation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and now the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), more attention is being given in these countries to policies and programmes which are results- and outcome-oriented. Possible strategies to improve health policy and the overall status of health in developing countries are recommended including Universal Health Coverage and the SDGs, among others.

scholarly journals What Is the Best Practice Method for Quantifying the Health and Economic Benefits of Active Transport?

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 6186
Author(s):  
Holger Möller ◽  
Fiona Haigh ◽  
Rema Hayek ◽  
Lennert Veerman
Keyword(s):  
Active Transport ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Practice Method

The aim of this study was to identify a best practice method to cost the health benefits of active transport for use in infrastructure planning in New South Wales, Australia. We systematically reviewed the international literature covering the concept areas of active transport and cost and health benefits. Original publications describing a method to cost the health benefits of active transport, published in 2000–2019 were included. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were assessed against criteria identified in interviews with key government stakeholders. A total of 2993 studies were identified, 53 were assessed for eligibility, and 19 were included in the review. The most commonly studied active transport modes were cycling (n = 8) and walking and cycling (n = 6). Exposures considered were physical activity, road transport related injuries and air pollution. The most often applied economic evaluation method was cost benefit analysis (n = 8), and costs were commonly calculated by monetising health outcomes. Based on evaluation of models against the criteria, a Multistate Life Table model was recommended as the best method currently available. There is strong and increasing interest in quantifying and costing the health benefits of active transport internationally. Incorporating health-related economic benefits into existing regulatory processes such as cost benefit analyses could provide an effective way to encourage the non-health sector to include health impacts in infrastructure measures.

Has China’s Health Sector Development Matched the Rapid Growth in the Country?

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (36) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Marta Tripane
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
The Third ◽  
Health Area ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Unequal Access

China is the world's largest country by population, the third largest by territory and the second largest world’s economy by GDP. Therefore it is important to follow the successes and failures of China in the field of health, because they affect the health area and processes in the world. This article includes retrospective analysis of empirical data to analyze the main inputs and outputs of China's health policy in order to identify the main problems and highlight the major challenges. In the article is concluded that main problems are related with insufficient and unequal access to health care.

scholarly journals Mate preferences and infectious disease: theoretical considerations and evidence in humans

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1583) ◽  
pp. 3375-3388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Steven W. Gangestad
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance ◽  
Human Mating ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

Mate preferences may operate in part to mitigate the threats posed by infectious disease. In this paper, we outline various ways in which preferring healthy mates can offer direct benefits in terms of pathogen avoidance and indirect benefits in terms of heritable immunity to offspring, as well as the costs that may constrain mate preferences for health. We then pay special attention to empirical work on mate preferences in humans given the depth and breadth of research on human mating. We review this literature and comment on the degree to which human mate preferences may reflect preferences for health.

scholarly journals Concomitant health benefits package design and research prioritisation: development of a new approach and an application to Malawi

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. e007047
Author(s):  
Laetitia Schmitt ◽  
Jessica Ochalek ◽  
Karl Claxton ◽  
Paul Revill ◽  
Dominic Nkhoma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Preventive Therapy ◽  
Acute Malnutrition ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Research Prioritisation

Health benefits packages (HBPs) are increasingly used in many countries to guide spending priorities on the path towards universal health coverage. Their design is, however, informed by an uncertain evidence base but research funds available to address this are limited. This gives rise to the question of which piece of research relating to the cost-effectiveness of interventions would most contribute to improving resource allocation. We propose to incorporate research prioritisation as an integral part of HBP design. We have, therefore, developed a framework and a freely available companion stand-alone tool, to quantify in terms of net disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted, the value of research for the interventions considered for inclusion in a package. Using the tool, the framework can be implemented using sensitivity analysis results typically reported in cost-effectiveness studies. To illustrate the framework, we applied the tool to the evidence base that informed the Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan 2017–2022. Out of 21 interventions considered, 8 investment decisions were found to be uncertain and three showed strong potential for research to generate large health gains: ‘male circumcision’, ‘community-management of acute malnutrition in children’ and ‘isoniazid preventive therapy in HIV +individuals’, with a potential to avert up to 65 762, 36 438 and 20 132 net DALYs, respectively. Our work can help set research priorities in resource-constrained settings so that research funds are invested where they have the largest potential to impact on the population health generated via HBPs.

scholarly journals The Peacock Fallacy: Art as a Veblenian Signal

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Mendoza Straffon
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
And Function ◽  
Original Concept ◽  
Genetic Fitness

The fact that world-over people seem inexplicably motivated to allocate time and effort to apparently useless cultural practices, like the arts, has led several evolutionary scholars to suggest that these might be costly Zahavian signals correlated with genetic fitness, such as the infamous peacock’s tail. In this paper, I review the fundamental arguments of the hypothesis that art evolved and serves as a costly Zahavian signal. First, I look into the hypothesis that humans exert mate choice for indirect benefits and argue that the data supports mate choice for direct benefits instead. Second, I argue that art practice may well be a costly signal, however not necessarily related to good genes. Third, I suggest that Thorstein Veblen’s original concept of conspicuous signals as social tools to obtain and convey prestige provides a better account than the Zahavian model for the evolution and function of art in society. As a Veblenian signal, art could still have many of the effects suggested for visual art as a Zahavian signal, except not for the indirect benefits of optimal offspring, but for the direct benefits of acquiring and conveying social status.

scholarly journals Impact of Ed-LinQ: A Public Policy Strategy to Facilitate Engagement between Schools and the Mental Health Care System in Queensland, Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 7924
Author(s):  
Luis Salvador-Carulla ◽  
Ana Fernandez ◽  
Haribondhu Sarma ◽  
John Mendoza ◽  
Marion Wands ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
School Sector ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Ed-LinQ is a mental health policy initiative to enhance the early detection and treatment of children with mental illness by improving the liaison between schools and health services in Queensland, Australia. We measured its impact from policy to practice to inform further program developments and public strategies. We followed a mixed quantitative/qualitative approach. The Adoption Impact Ladder (AIL) was used to analyse the adoption of this initiative by end-users (decision makers both in the health and education sectors) and the penetration of the initiative in the school sector. Survey respondents included representatives of schools (n = 186) and mental health providers (n = 78). In total, 63% of the school representative respondents were at least aware of the existence of the Ed-LinQ initiative, 74% were satisfied with the initiative and 28% of the respondent schools adopted the initiative to a significant extent. Adoption was higher in urban districts and in the health sector. The overall level of penetration in the school sector of Queensland was low (3%). The qualitative analysis indicated an improvement in the referral and communication processes between schools and the health sectors and the importance of funding in the implementation of the initiative. Mapping of existing programs is needed to assess the implementation of a new one as well as the design of different implementation strategies for urban and rural areas. Assessing the adoption of health policy strategies and their penetration in a target audience is critical to understand their proportional impacts across a defined ecosystem and constitutes a necessary preliminary step for the evaluation of their quality and efficiency.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document