When low benefit-cost ratios mean we need to invest more, not less: The social determinants of value in health
Economic evaluations such as Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) are often used to guide priority setting. However, in adverse contexts, low benefit-cost ratios (BCR) are often not evidence of weak interventions, but reflections of structural barriers. We should therefore invest more in these cases, to tackle these barriers, rather than less.
Authors
- Kathryn Watt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4390-5857)
- William E. Rudgard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7301-5217)
- Chris Desmond (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3500-0196)
- Dhyan Saravanja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9542-8591)
Institutions
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (ZA)
- Health Systems Trust (ZA)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Health Policy
- Published
- 2026-04-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2026.105635
- Primary Topic
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00