Multi-criteria decision analysis to prioritize health interventions: Capitalizing on first experiences. (2010)

Multi-criteria decision analysis to prioritize health interventions: Capitalizing on first experiences.

Rob Baltussen¹, Sitapon Youngkong1^1,2, Francesco Paolucci³, Louis Niessen⁴

¹ Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, The Netherlands
² Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
³ Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
⁴ John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Balitmore, United States

Introduction

This paper capitalizes on a first set of experiences on the application of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in seven low- and middle-income settings. It thereby reacts to a recent paper by Peacock et al., highlighting the potential of MCDA to guide policy makers in highly specific decision-making contexts. We argue that MCDA also has a broader application in setting priorities in health, i.e. to indicate general perceptions on priorities without defining the allocation of resources in a precise fashion. This use of MCDA can have far-reaching and constructive influences on policy formulation.

Link: http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/heap/article/S0168-8510%2810%2900024-2/abstract