No health system has ever complained of having too much money.  There are never enough resources available to buy all services that everyone would want to improve health.  This is particularly true in low-income countries, where in many countries health spending amounts to only $20-50 per person per year. Given that resources are limited, health system managers and planners must decide how to allocate these precious resources.  But what services should be covered or who should benefit?  There are many different ways in which these resources can be allocated, in this lecture we will discuss some of the main frameworks: efficiency arguments, ethical arguments, or other types of arguments.   We will also cover cost-effectiveness as well as results-based arguments for priority setting.

Key Objectives:

·     Define the types of arguments that are frequently used in resource allocation decisions, including economic, ethical, and legal type arguments.

·   Understand the concept of cost-effectiveness including how cost-effectiveness is measured and used in practice.

·   Discuss the trade-offs that come from using one type of allocation framework vs. others.