I support thinking about/discussing neglected problems like this, and it might be the case that there is serious room for improvement here. However, I do want to briefly push back on your selective reporting of the most favorable $/DALY estimate:
There’s also good evidence that treatment programs can be cost-effective. A review of hypertension control interventions reports a handful of studies with costs of less than $100 per DALY averted. This cutoff is sometimes referenced as a benchmark for the cost effectiveness of insecticide treated bednet programs.
When I read the study (Table 4), it seemed that most of the relevant estimates were multiple times over the $100/DALY mark (e.g., 200–1000).
This isn’t a terrible problem, but I would definitely prefer that posts like this more explicitly acknowledge/emphasize that most of the studies were not that positive. That was only the first claim made here that I investigated (admittedly because it seemed like one of the most concerning), so it leaves me a bit more skeptical as to the overall post. I’m also a bit unsure/skeptical as to how effectively the programs would scale and whether the costs incorporate certain administrative costs that might be incurred.
Still, like I said it might be the case that even with that being acknowledged there are still some interventions really worth supporting (or at least investigating further).
Thanks, I accept the critique. I do think it’s clear from the full post, however, that I’m just making the case for greater focus by the community, rather than saying this is a closed case. I also state clearly in the same paragraph that other studies had much higher cost estimates.
I support thinking about/discussing neglected problems like this, and it might be the case that there is serious room for improvement here. However, I do want to briefly push back on your selective reporting of the most favorable $/DALY estimate:
When I read the study (Table 4), it seemed that most of the relevant estimates were multiple times over the $100/DALY mark (e.g., 200–1000).
This isn’t a terrible problem, but I would definitely prefer that posts like this more explicitly acknowledge/emphasize that most of the studies were not that positive. That was only the first claim made here that I investigated (admittedly because it seemed like one of the most concerning), so it leaves me a bit more skeptical as to the overall post. I’m also a bit unsure/skeptical as to how effectively the programs would scale and whether the costs incorporate certain administrative costs that might be incurred.
Still, like I said it might be the case that even with that being acknowledged there are still some interventions really worth supporting (or at least investigating further).
Thanks, I accept the critique. I do think it’s clear from the full post, however, that I’m just making the case for greater focus by the community, rather than saying this is a closed case. I also state clearly in the same paragraph that other studies had much higher cost estimates.