Leander Buisman

Persistent inequalities in child undernutrition: evidence from 80 countries, from 1990 to today

BACKGROUND Global progress in reducing the burden of undernutrition tends to be measured at the population level. It has been hypothesized that population-level improvements may mask widening socioeconomic inequalities, but little attempt has been made to assess whether this is true. METHODS Original data from 131 demographic health surveys and 48 multiple indicator cluster surveys from 1990 to 2011 were used to examine trends in socioeconomic inequalities in stunting and underweight, as well as the relationship between changes in prevalence and changes in inequality, in 80 countries. Socioeconomic inequality is measured using the corrected concentration index. RESULTS Countries with a higher prevalence of stunting tend to have larger socioeconomic inequalities in stunting (Spearman rank correlation = -0.27 P = 0.014). In most countries, there has been no change in inequality in stunting: in 31 out of 53, the 90% confidence intervals around the changes overlap the zero value. In the remaining 22, there was a reduction in inequality in 11 and an increase in 11. The distributional patterns underlying the summary inequality statistics vary considerably across countries, but in most there have been considerable gains to the poorest quintile. CONCLUSIONS Reductions in the prevalence of undernutrition have generally not been accompanied by widening inequalities. However, inequalities have also not been narrowing. Rather, the picture is one of a strong persistence of existing inequalities. In addition, there are different distributional patterns underlying changes in the summary indices of inequality which will need to be taken into consideration in designing programmes to reach the poor.

Progress on catastrophic health spending in 133 countries: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND The goal of universal health coverage (UHC) requires inter alia that families who get needed health care do not suffer undue financial hardship as a result. This can be measured by the percentage of people in households whose out-of-pocket health expenditures are large relative to their income or consumption. We aimed to estimate the global incidence of catastrophic health spending, trends between 2000 and 2010, and associations between catastrophic health spending and macroeconomic and health system variables at the country level. METHODS We did a retrospective observational study of health spending using data obtained from household surveys. Of 1566 potentially suitable household surveys, 553 passed quality checks, covering 133 countries between 1984 and 2015. We defined health spending as catastrophic when it exceeded 10% or 25% of household consumption. We estimated global incidence by aggregating up from every country, using a survey for the year in question when available, and interpolation and model-based estimates otherwise. We used multiple regression to explore the relation between a countrys incidence of catastrophic spending and gross domestic product (GDP) per person, the Gini coefficient for income inequality, and the share of total health expenditure spent by social security funds, other government agencies, private insurance schemes, and non-profit institutions. FINDINGS The global incidence of catastrophic spending at the 10% threshold was estimated as 9·7% in 2000, 11·4% in 2005, and 11·7% in 2010. Globally, 808 million people in 2010 incurred catastrophic health spending. Across 94 countries with two or more survey datapoints, the population-weighted median annual rate of change of catastrophic payment incidence was positive whatever catastrophic payment incidence measure was used. Incidence of catastrophic payments was correlated positively with GDP per person and the share of GDP spent on health, and incidence correlated negatively with the share of total health spending channelled through social security funds and other government agencies. INTERPRETATION The proportion of the population that is supposed to be covered by health insurance schemes or by national or subnational health services is a poor indicator of financial protection. Increasing the share of GDP spent on health is not sufficient to reduce catastrophic payment incidence; rather, what is required is increasing the share of total health expenditure that is prepaid, particularly through taxes and mandatory contributions. FUNDING Rockefeller Foundation, Ministry of Health of Japan, UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Hospital costs of ischemic stroke and TIA in the Netherlands.

Objectives: There have been no ischemic stroke costing studies since major improvements were implemented in stroke care. We therefore determined hospital resource use and costs of ischemic stroke and TIA in the Netherlands for 2012. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cost analysis using individual patient data from a national diagnosis-related group registry. We analyzed 4 subgroups: inpatient ischemic stroke, inpatient TIA, outpatient ischemic stroke, and outpatient TIA. Costs of carotid endarterectomy and costs of an extra follow-up visit were also estimated. Unit costs were based on reference prices from the Dutch Healthcare Insurance Board and tariffs provided by the Dutch Healthcare Authority. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between hospital costs and various patient and hospital characteristics. Results: A total of 35,903 ischemic stroke and 21,653 TIA patients were included. Inpatient costs were €5,328 (

THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM: EARLY COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF NEW MEDICAL TESTS.

6,845) for ischemic stroke and €2,470 (

Progress Toward the Health Mdgs: Are the Poor Being Left Behind?

3,173) for TIA. Outpatient costs were €495 (

Financial protection from health spending in the Philippines: policies and progress

636) for ischemic stroke and €587 (

Who Benefits from Government Health Spending and Why? A Global Assessment

754) for TIA. Costs of carotid endarterectomy were €6,836 (

A cost-effectiveness model for evaluating new diagnostic tests in the work-up of patients with inflammatory arthritis at risk of having Rheumatoid Arthritis

8,783). Costs of inpatient days were the largest contributor to hospital costs. Age, hospital type, and region were strongly associated with hospital costs. Conclusions: Hospital costs are higher for inpatients and ischemic strokes compared with outpatients and TIAs, with length of stay (LOS) the most important contributor. LOS and hospital costs have substantially declined over the last 10 years, possibly due to improved hospital stroke care and efficient integrated stroke services.

Universal health coverage in the Philippines : progress on financial protection goals

OBJECTIVES There is little specific guidance on performing an early cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of medical tests. We developed a framework with general steps and applied it to two cases. METHODS Step 1 is to narrow down the scope of analysis by defining the tests application, target population, outcome measures, and investigating current test strategies and test strategies if the new test were available. Step 2 is to collect evidence on the current test strategy. Step 3 is to develop a conceptual model of the current and new test strategies. Step 4 is to conduct the early-CEA by evaluating the potential (cost-)effectiveness of the new test in clinical practice. Step 5 involves a decision about the further development of the test. RESULTS The first case illustrated the impact of varying the test performance on the headroom (maximum possible price) of an add-on test for patients with an intermediate-risk of having rheumatoid arthritis. Analyses showed that the headroom is particularly dependent on test performance. The second case estimated the minimum performance of a confirmatory imaging test to predict individual stroke risk. Different combinations of sensitivity and specificity were found to be cost-effective; if these combinations are attainable, the medical test developer can feel more confident about the value of further development of the test. CONCLUSIONS A well-designed early-CEA methodology can improve the ability to develop (cost-)effective medical tests in an efficient manner. Early-CEAs should continuously integrate insights and evidence that arise through feedback, which may convince developers to return to earlier steps.

Cost-effectiveness of Biological Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Drugs for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Implications for Clinical Practice

This paper looks at differential progress on the health Millennium Development Goals between the poor and better-off within countries. The findings are based on original analysis of 235 Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, spanning 64 developing countries over the period 1990-2011. Five health status indicators and seven intervention indicators are tracked for all the health Millennium Development Goals. In most countries, the poorest 40 percent have made faster progress than the richest 60 percent. On average, relative inequality in the Millennium Development Goal indicators has been falling. However, the opposite is true in a sizable minority of countries, especially on child health status indicators (40-50 percent in the cases of child malnutrition and mortality), and on some intervention indicators (almost 40 percent in the case of immunizations). Absolute inequality has been rising in a larger fraction of countries and in around one-quarter of countries, the poorest 40 percent have been slipping backward in absolute terms. Despite reductions in most countries, relative inequalities in the Millennium Development Goal health indicators are still appreciable, with the poor facing higher risks of malnutrition and death in childhood and lower odds of receiving key health interventions.