Priority-setting in global health explained

In global health, priority-setting is a term used for the process and strategy of deciding which health interventions to carry out. Priority-setting can be conducted at the disease level (i.e. deciding which disease to alleviate), the overall strategy level (i.e. selective primary healthcare versus primary healthcare versus more general health systems strengthening), research level (i.e. which health research to carry out), or other levels.

Definitions

Priority-setting is the act of deciding which health interventions to carry out, and can occur at several levels of granularity. Priority-setting can occur at the following levels:[1]

Synonymous terms include "prioritization in health care and health research", "priority determination", "health priorities", and "agenda-setting".[2]

Metrics

Various metrics have been used to compare interventions. These include:

Who sets the priorities?

Priority-setting can be done by various actors. These include:

According to Devi Sridhar, professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh,[6] "the priorities of funding bodies largely dictate what health issues and diseases are studied".[7]

Usually at a level of equity and are done by decision-makers closely working alongside marginalized communities and people being influenced. Stakeholder engagement involvements is critical in priority-settings as it establishes if the decisions made by the various actors reflect what the population needs as well as if they are appropriate and accurate.[8] Priority setting decision-makers often make it a point to not only provide assistance and resources but to also give voices to those who are often unheard and invisible in the privileged system.[9] Oftentimes, these priorities address more than just socioeconomic status but also inequalities such as gender, race, and religion inequalities.[10] Policies take a long time to process because of how specific they tend to be.

Once a consensus has been reached between the priority setting makers and the communities, there might be challenges and problems that could arise based on the health intervention being pushed by the priority. Due to the complexity of the inequalities, aspects such as the levels of population health and the distribution of health are being considered which could also be looked at through economical lenses.[11] Although decision makers have the power to constraint and provide aid, there also tends to be an asymmetric information[12] as health organizations might overestimate which priorities are desired.[13]

History of organizations and programs working on priority-setting

Global-level priority-setting has occurred since at least the 1980s, though these efforts have only focused on a few aspects.

The following table is a timeline of organizations and programs working on priority-setting.

Years active Event Level at which prioritization occurred Metric or methods used Operating costs/funding level (in US$) Results and impact
1977–present WHO Model List of Essential Medicines is published.Among medicinesProduced explicit list of medicines. As of 2016, at least 156 countries have created national lists of essential medicines based on the WHO's model list.[14]
1984 Demographic and Health Surveys is conceived.[15] Improving data quality 380,000,000 (from USAID) Data from the DHS has been analyzed by various papers.
1987–1989The Oregon Health Services Commission (HSC) is established to prioritize within the US Medicaid program. The HSC would publish their first prioritized list of health services in 1993. The HSC would be abolished in 2012.[16] Health services[17] Originally a cost-per-utility formula, but then expert judgment and a method of splitting health services into categories and ranking within categories"This time greater emphasis is placed on preventive services and chronic disease management, reflecting the fact that providing health care before reaching crisis mode will prevent avoidable morbidity and mortality."
1987–1990Commission on Health Research for Development[18] is established in 1987 and would publish Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development in 1990.[19] ResearchMeetings with expertsProduced several reports, including the final report, Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development. Resulted in the establishment of the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED) to promote priority-setting in low- and middle-income countries.
?
1993Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries is published by the Disease Control Priorities Project.[20] Disability-adjusted life year
1993The World Bank publishes the 1993 World Development Report.Health interventions[21] Disability-adjusted life year[22]
1994 World Health Organization's Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research Relating to Future Intervention Options (AHC) Research and development Produced the 1996 report "Investing in Health Research and Development".
1995 Improving data quality
1998 WHO-CHOICE, a program that helps countries choose health system priorities, is developed.[23] [24] [25]
1998 Research and development Structured interviews and literature review Produced a list of 17 priorities.
2000 Review of previous efforts
2001 Center for Global Development[26]
2002 Marginal budgeting for bottlenecks (the World Bank, UNICEF, and WHO) is conceived.
2003The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces the Grand Challenges in Global Health, for which it initially provides $200 million in funding.Research and developmentScientific board550,000,000 (from the Gates Foundation as of 2008; smaller amounts from others not yet included)Out of more than 1000 submissions, 14 were selected by the scientific board as "grand challenges".
2003 The initial version of the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) by Johns Hopkins University is created.[27]
2004 Global Forum for Health Research develops the "Combined Approach Matrix" (CAM). Various (since CAM is a general method) CAM itself is the method, but takes into account disease burden, present level of knowledge, cost-effectiveness, macro-economic policies, etc. Rudan et al.: "The tool has proven to be highly useful for systematic classification, organization, and presentation of the large body of information that is needed at different stages of priority setting process, so that the decisions made by the members of decision-making committees could be based on all relevant and available information, rather than their own personal knowledge and judgment."
2004 The Copenhagen Consensus (which focuses on aid and development in general, and not just global health) holds its first conference.[28]
2005 Health Metrics Network launches. The partnership would dissolve in 2013.[29] Improving data quality 50,000,000 (initially, by the Gates Foundation; see Health Metrics Network § Funding for more) Various
2006 Second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries by the Disease Control Priorities Project[30] is published.
2007 The Lancet publishes a series of papers on priorities in international health. Research
2007 Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program is established. Various
2007 Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation launches. Improving data quality, burden of disease 105,000,000 (initial grant, mainly from the Gates Foundation)
2008 Supporting Independent Immunization and Vaccine Advisory Committees Initiative (SIVAC) is founded.[31] Among vaccines
2009 EVIDEM Collaboration (Evidence and Value: Impact on Decision Making) is established.[32] Health interventions Literature review, "discussions with stakeholders", and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA)[33]
2013 International Decision Support Initiative launches as the result of a Center for Global Development working group. Health interventions 12,800,000 (from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for phase 2 of operations)[34] [35]

Reception

Rudan et al. says that priority-setting efforts have relied on "consensus reached by panels of experts" and as a result have not been systematic enough, and that this has "often made it difficult to present the identified priorities to wider audiences as legitimate and fair".[18]

Glassman et al. notes that criticisms of priority-setting include "the weak data on which estimates of burden, cost, and effectiveness relied; the value judgments implicit in disability-adjusted life year age weighting and discounting decisions; and treatment of equity issues, as well as the political difficulties associated with translating a ground zero package into a public budget based on historical inputs"; and the consideration of only health maximization at the expense of other objectives such as fairness.

Glassman et al. also notes how there are more cost-effectiveness studies for LMICs (in the thousands), but that these are unlikely to be actually applied to priority-setting processes.

Jeremy Shiffman has said that some bodies such as the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and The Lancet are prominent in priority-setting due to their dominion rather than data and analysis, and also notes that the process of creating the Sustainable Development Goals was not sufficiently transparent.[36]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Call for Abstracts: Priority Setting for Universal Health Coverage . June 23, 2016 . Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2016.
  2. Shiffman J, Smith S . Generation of political priority for global health initiatives: a framework and case study of maternal mortality . Lancet . 370 . 9595 . 1370–1379 . October 2007 . 17933652 . 10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61579-7 . 5870284 .
  3. Glassman A, Chalkidou K, Giedion U, Teerawattananon Y, Tunis S, Bump JB, Pichon-Riviere A . Priority-setting institutions in health: recommendations from a center for global development working group . Global Heart . 7 . 1 . 13–34 . March 2012 . 25691165 . 10.1016/j.gheart.2012.01.007 . free . Kalipso Chalkidou .
  4. Book: Bloom BR, Michaud CM, La Montagne JR, Simonsen L . Priorities for Global Research and Development of Interventions . Jamison DT, Breman JG, Measham AR, Alleyne G, Claeson M, Evans DB, Jha P, Mills A, Musgrove P . 6 . Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries . 2nd. World Bank. 978-0-8213-6179-5 . Washington (DC). 2016-06-30. 2006. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11751/. 21250329.
  5. Web site: A conversation with Amanda Glassman on November 13, 2013 . November 13, 2013 . June 21, 2016 . GiveWell.
  6. Web site: Centre for Population Health Sciences - People . September 30, 2015 . July 27, 2016.
  7. Sridhar D . Who sets the global health research agenda? The challenge of multi-bi financing . PLOS Medicine . 9 . 9 . e1001312 . 2012-09-25 . 23049485 . 3457927 . 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001312 . free .
  8. Web site: 2019-06-27 . Priority Setting . 2022-05-28 . PHCPI.
  9. Pratt B . Sharing power in global health research: an ethical toolkit for designing priority-setting processes that meaningfully include communities . International Journal for Equity in Health . 20 . 1 . 127 . May 2021 . 34034747 . 8145852 . 10.1186/s12939-021-01453-y . free .
  10. 6 . Norheim OF, Baltussen R, Johri M, Chisholm D, Nord E, Brock D, Carlsson P, Cookson R, Daniels N, Danis M, Fleurbaey M, Johansson KA, Kapiriri L, Littlejohns P, Mbeeli T, Rao KD, Edejer TT, Wikler D . 2014-08-29 . Guidance on priority setting in health care (GPS-Health): the inclusion of equity criteria not captured by cost-effectiveness analysis . Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation . 12 . 1 . 18 . 10.1186/1478-7547-12-18 . 4171087 . 25246855 . free .
  11. Baltussen R, Niessen L . Priority setting of health interventions: the need for multi-criteria decision analysis . Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation . 4 . 1 . 14 . August 2006 . 16923181 . 1560167 . 10.1186/1478-7547-4-14 . free .
  12. Book: Ruan K . Chapter 10 - Case Study: Insuring the Future of Everything: 10.5.2 Asymmetric Information . Digital Asset Valuation and Cyber Risk Measurement . 2019 . Academic Press . London . 978-0-12-812158-0 . 159–167 . 10.1016/B978-0-12-812158-0.00010-7.
  13. Mitton C, Donaldson C . Health care priority setting: principles, practice and challenges . Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation . 2 . 1 . 3 . April 2004 . 15104792 . 411060 . 10.1186/1478-7547-2-3 . free .
  14. Web site: The WHO Essential Medicines List (EML): 30th anniversary . https://web.archive.org/web/20140527003625/http://www.who.int/medicines/events/fs/en/ . dead . May 27, 2014 . World Health Organization . June 26, 2016.
  15. Web site: A systematic review of Demographic and Health Surveys: data availability and utilization for research . https://web.archive.org/web/20130619105715/http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/90/8/11-095513/en/ . dead . June 19, 2013 . September 1, 2011 . World Health Organization . July 20, 2016.
  16. Web site: Health Evidence Review Commission Prioritized List Overview . July 2, 2016 . Oregon.gov.
  17. Web site: A Brief History of Health Services Prioritization in Oregon . July 2, 2016 . DiPrete B, Coffman D . March 2007.
  18. Rudan I, Gibson J, Kapiriri L, Lansang MA, Hyder AA, Lawn J, Darmstadt GL, Cousens S, Bhutta ZA, Brown KH, Hess SY, Black M, Gardner JM, Webster J, Carneiro I, Chandramohan D, Kosek M, Lanata CF, Tomlinson M, Chopra M, Ameratunga S, Campbell H, El Arifeen S, Black RE . 6 . Setting priorities in global child health research investments: assessment of principles and practice . Croatian Medical Journal . 48 . 5 . 595–604 . October 2007 . 17948946 . 2205967 .
  19. Web site: Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development . 1990 . Oxford University Press.
  20. Web site: About the Project . March 30, 2016.
  21. Paalman M, Bekedam H, Hawken L, Nyheim D . A critical review of priority setting in the health sector: the methodology of the 1993 World Development Report . Health Policy and Planning . 13 . 1 . 13–31 . March 1998 . 10178182 . 10.1093/heapol/13.1.13 . free . 1460-2237 .
  22. Ruger JP . The changing role of the World Bank in global health . American Journal of Public Health . 95 . 1 . 60–70 . January 2005 . 15623860 . 1449852 . 10.2105/AJPH.2004.042002 .
  23. Rudan I, Kapiriri L, Tomlinson M, Balliet M, Cohen B, Chopra M . Evidence-based priority setting for health care and research: tools to support policy in maternal, neonatal, and child health in Africa . PLOS Medicine . 7 . 7 . e1000308 . July 2010 . 20644640 . 2903581 . 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000308 . free .
  24. Web site: WHO - WHO-CHOICE . https://web.archive.org/web/20140329211631/http://www.who.int/choice/cost-effectiveness/en/ . dead . March 29, 2014 . World Health Organization . June 23, 2016.
  25. Web site: WHO - Who we are . https://web.archive.org/web/20140330233112/http://www.who.int/choice/about/en/ . dead . March 30, 2014 . World Health Organization . June 23, 2016.
  26. Web site: Priority-Setting Institutions for Global Health . . June 21, 2016.
  27. Walker N, Tam Y, Friberg IK . Overview of the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) . BMC Public Health . 13 . 3 . S1 . 2013 . 24564438 . 3847271 . 10.1186/1471-2458-13-S3-S1 . free .
  28. Durand-Bourjate Y . Setting Priorities in Health Interventions. 5 July 2016 . February 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20160818163251/http://www.nadel.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/nadel-dam/documents/mas/mas-essays/MAS_2008_Durand_Bourjate_Yannick.pdf . 18 August 2016 .
  29. Web site: WHO's arrangement for hosting health partnerships and proposals for harmonizing WHO's work with hosted partnerships . World Health Organization . January 18, 2013 .
  30. Web site: New Initiative Will Assess Disease Control Priorities In Developing Countries . September 2002 . . June 21, 2016.
  31. Web site: SIVAC Initiative . International Vaccine Institute . June 26, 2016.
  32. Web site: About us . EVIDEM Collaboration . July 19, 2016.
  33. Web site: Decision criteria of the framework . July 19, 2016 . EVIDEM Collaboration.
  34. Web site: International Decision Support Initiative awarded US$12.8m grant from the Gates Foundation . iDSI . May 26, 2016 . January 30, 2016.
  35. Web site: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence . December 2015 . Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  36. Levine RE . Power in global health agenda-setting: the role of private funding Comment on "Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health" . International Journal of Health Policy and Management . 4 . 5 . 315–317 . March 2015 . 25905483 . 4417636 . 10.15171/ijhpm.2015.51 .