Assessing Cost Effectiveness in Prevention is the report of a major study published this week by the Public Health Association of Australia. There is a need to ensure our scarce health resources are directed to where they can be most effective - particularly for those with the poorest health outcomes. This five-year study, funded by the NHMRC, and run under the auspices of the Centre for Burden of Disease and Cost-Effectiveness at the University of Queensland and Deakin Health Economics at Deakin University, is a comprehensive analysis of the value of many health advancement strategies to address the burden of preventable death and disease in Australia.
The report evaluated the cost-effectiveness of 150 preventive health interventions in areas such as mental health, diabetes, tobacco use, alcohol use, nutrition, body weight, physical activity, blood pressure, blood cholesterol and bone mineral density. The interventions which have the largest impact were considered to be the taxation of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods, a mandatory limit in salt in bread, cereals and margarine, choosing the most cost-effective, generic drugs for blood pressure and cholesterol lowering, gastric banding for severe obesity and an intensive SunSmart campaign.
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