IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/aphecp/v23y2025i5d10.1007_s40258-025-00964-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Guiding Health Resource Allocation: Using Population Net Health Benefit to Align Disease Burden with Cost Effectiveness for Informed Decision Making

Author

Listed:
  • Megha Rao

    (University of York)

  • Simon Walker

    (University of York)

  • Karl Claxton

    (University of York)

  • Simon Bland

    (Global Institute for Disease Elimination)

  • Jessica Ochalek

    (University of York)

  • Andrew Phillips

    (University College London)

  • Mark Sculpher

    (University of York)

  • Paul Revill

    (University of York)

Abstract

Limited healthcare resources necessitate a strategic approach to their allocation. This paper highlights the importance of population net health benefit (NHB) metric as a means of aligning two existing concepts used for resource prioritization in health: burden of disease and cost effectiveness. By explicitly incorporating health opportunity costs and eligible patient population size, NHB provides a clearer understanding of the likely scale of impact of interventions on population health. Moreover, when expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted, NHB enables policymakers to effectively communicate the population-level health gains from interventions relative to the existing disease burden. Using a stylized example, we demonstrate the estimation of population NHB for four alternative health interventions and its use in resource allocation decisions. The analysis reveals how variations in patient population size and health opportunity costs can significantly impact NHB estimates, ultimately influencing resource allocation decisions. The results further illustrate how NHB can be expressed as a proportion of the total disease burden, allowing for the consideration of the percentage of the overall burden addressed by each intervention. The paper demonstrates how population NHB combines cost effectiveness with components of disease burden, offering a more comprehensive approach to health intervention selection and implementation. As countries move towards universal health coverage, this metric can aid policymakers in making informed, evidence-based decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Megha Rao & Simon Walker & Karl Claxton & Simon Bland & Jessica Ochalek & Andrew Phillips & Mark Sculpher & Paul Revill, 2025. "Guiding Health Resource Allocation: Using Population Net Health Benefit to Align Disease Burden with Cost Effectiveness for Informed Decision Making," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 759-766, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:23:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1007_s40258-025-00964-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40258-025-00964-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40258-025-00964-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40258-025-00964-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan Williams, 1999. "Calculating the global burden of disease: time for a strategic reappraisal?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hongru Du & Matthew V Zahn & Sara L Loo & Tijs W Alleman & Shaun Truelove & Bryan Patenaude & Lauren M Gardner & Nicholas Papageorge & Alison L Hill, 2025. "Improving policy design and epidemic response using integrated models of economic choice and disease dynamics with behavioral feedback," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 21(10), pages 1-24, October.
    2. David Canning, 2006. "The Economics of HIV/AIDS in Low-Income Countries: The Case for Prevention," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 121-142, Summer.
    3. Jessica Ochalek & Karl Claxton & Paul Revill & Mark Sculpher & Alexandra Rollinger, 2016. "Supporting the development of an essential health package: principles and initial assessment for Malawi," Working Papers 136cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    4. Christopher J.L. Murray & Alan D. Lopez, 2000. "Progress and directions in refining the Global Burden of Disease approach: a response to Williams," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 69-82, January.
    5. Andrea Klonschinski, 2021. "Universal Metrics for Climate Change Adaptation Finance? A Cautionary Tale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Stein, Alexander J. & Meenakshi, J.V. & Qaim, Matin & Nestel, Penelope & Sachdev, H.P.S. & Bhutta, Zulfiqar A., 2008. "Potential impacts of iron biofortification in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1797-1808, April.
    7. Fleurence, Rachael L. & Torgerson, David J., 2004. "Setting priorities for research," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 1-10, July.
    8. Randall M. Packard, 2009. "“Roll Back Malaria, Roll in Development”? Reassessing the Economic Burden of Malaria," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(1), pages 53-87, March.
    9. Mara Airoldi & Alec Morton, 2009. "Adjusting life for quality or disability: stylistic difference or substantial dispute?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(11), pages 1237-1247, November.
    10. Sara L. M. Trærup & Ramon A. Ortiz & Anil Markandya, 2011. "The Costs of Climate Change: A Study of Cholera in Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Marcello Basili & Filippo Belloc, 2012. "How to Measure the Economic Impact of Vector-Borne Diseases at a Country Level: An Assessment," Department of Economics University of Siena 648, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    12. Ohkado, Akihiro & Williams, Gini & Ishikawa, Nobukatsu & Shimouchi, Akira & Simon, Carter, 2005. "The management for tuberculosis control in Greater London in comparison with that in Osaka City: lessons for improvement of TB control management in Osaka City urban setting," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 104-123, July.
    13. Olof Johansson‐Stenman & Minhaj Mahmud & Peter Martinsson, 2011. "Saving lives versus life‐years in rural Bangladesh: an ethical preferences approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(6), pages 723-736, June.
    14. Agnieszka Jakubowska, 2020. "Behavioural Health Factors and Limitations to the Health of Labour Force: Analysis of the Convergence Process of the EU Economies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 258-276.
    15. Agnieszka Jakubowska & Marcin Rabe, 2022. "Air Pollution and Limitations in Health: Identification of Inequalities in the Burdens of the Economies of the “Old” and “New” EU," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, August.
    16. Jeppsson, Anders & Okuonzi, Sam Agatre & Ostergren, Per-Olof & Hagstrom, Bo, 2004. "Using burden of disease/cost-effectiveness as an instrument for district health planning: experiences from Uganda," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 261-270, December.
    17. Maria Gheorghe & Werner Brouwer & Pieter Baal, 2015. "Did the health of the Dutch population improve between 2001 and 2008? Investigating age- and gender-specific trends in quality of life," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(8), pages 801-811, November.
    18. Nancy Devlin & Paul Hansen, 2000. "Allocating Vote: Health — ‘Needs Assessment’ and an Economics-Based Approach," Treasury Working Paper Series 00/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    19. Marcello Basili & Filippo Belloc, 2015. "How To Measure The Economic Impact Of Vector-Borne Diseases At Country Level," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 896-916, December.
    20. Lars Østerdal, 2009. "The lack of theoretical support for using person trade-offs in QALY-type models," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 10(4), pages 429-436, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:23:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1007_s40258-025-00964-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.