Considering equity in priority setting using transmission models: Recommendations and data needs

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Economics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Disease transmission models are crucial for evaluating public health interventions, including the COVID-19 response.
• Current models often overlook health equity, failing to address differential health burdens across populations.
• Incorporating equity is essential for fair priority setting in infectious disease control.

Approach:

• Literature review on equity concepts in economic evaluations.
• Technical consultation with experts in health economics, ethics, mathematical modeling, and global health organizations.
• Formulation of consensus and recommendations for equity-informed infectious disease modeling.

Key Points:

• Recommendations for applying the Reference Case for Economic Evaluation in Global Health.
• Guidance on specifying equity concepts, choosing evaluation frameworks, model structure, and data requirements.
• Emphasis on transparent reporting of assumptions and data limitations.

Conclusions:

• Existing economic evaluation methodologies can incorporate health equity.
• Infectious disease models need to integrate these frameworks for accurate representation of health inequities.
• Guidance provided aims to support technical approaches for more equitable health policies.