ISSUE: There is increasing recognition of the importance of nutrition interventions in contributing to nations’ health. However, these interventions are quite diverse, ranging from medical nutrition to broad public health programmes. There are challenges in the economic evaluations of public health interventions in general and nutrition programs in particular. First, causal effects may be difficult to ascertain because studies such as randomized controlled studies are often too costly, poorly generalizable, or simply unfeasible in these contexts. Nutrition is complicated by requiring multi-component, complex interventions that dynamically change with time and interact with the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the impact of these interventions may go beyond the direct health effects on the targeted individuals, to include broader consequences at the societal level. They may generate interlinked costs and consequences between different public sectors, the general public or the economy at large. Issues of consumer choice, preference, culture, community, habits and lifestyle have greater prominence than in pharmaceutical treatments. Lastly, equity considerations may be even more relevant, given their potential impact on the distribution of health across different population subgroups. There is a need to explore appropriate methods for economic evaluation in nutrition interventions.

OVERVIEW:

The panel will explore the respective merits of cost utility analysis versus cost-benefit analysis for measuring and valuing the key impacts in nutrition policies in different contexts. Each speaker will speak for 12 minutes, to leave 20 minutes for interactive audience questions, comment and debate. The session will be of particular interest to researchers and policy makers active in the fields of health technology assessment, economic evaluation, public health, nutrition and lifestyle.