Lies, damn lies and cost-effectiveness.

The rationing of health care is not new. If we are interested in the origins of health economics we should remember 1699 (not quite a tercentennial). This was the year that William Petty published his discourse that evaluated many things including human beings in "Political Arithmetick". Since then the investment in health has depended on the wealth of the individual or state and the emphasis on health provision. In 1978 the World Health Organisation met at Alma Ata and defined the factors that led to the allocation of primary care resources; economic conditions, socio-cultural attitudes and political characteristics.