Background Better access to essential medicines for children is an important pre-condition for improving their health and reducing mortality. However, the results of surveys implemented in some countries show that treatment of children is not always affordable due to a high cost of medicines. The objective of this work was to assess the situation with availability, prices and affordability of e...

The cost of providing water services is increasing, placing greater financial burdens on individual households and utilities. Five metrics were calculated at multiple volumes usage applied to 1791 utilities, estimating bills from 2020 rates data, gauge in four states. More than a fifth the population 77% utilities was experiencing poverty, suggesting widespread poverty major contributor utility...

This paper uses longitudinal data to examine the interrelationship between two central social determinants of mental health - employment security and housing affordability. Data from ten annual waves of the longitudinal Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (which commenced in 2000/1 and is ongoing) were analysed using fixed-effects longitudinal linear regression. Ch...

The UK housing market has, over the recent 5 years, experienced considerable economic pressures both from the market place and the construction sector. The need for an economic and mass produced housing type that specifically targets the market to achieve the balance for the need of affordability and the benefits of mass customisation is a key focus for delivery. This study sought to deliver a ...

INTRODUCTION As in many other countries, Australian consumers have recently had to accommodate increases in costs of basic food, and during the financial year 2007-2008 overall food prices rose by nearly 4%. Food costs are mediating factors in food choice, especially for low-income groups, where food security is often tenuous. There are reports that rural populations may have higher levels of f...

OBJECTIVES Health technology assessment (HTA) has to innovate to best support changing health system environments and to help provide access to valuable innovation under fiscal constraint. METHODS Issues associated with changing HTA paradigms were identified through scoping and explored through deliberation at a meeting of industry and HTA leaders. RESULTS Five broad areas of change (engage...

Efficient use of the water resource requires internalization of all costs in the price of water, including environmental and resource costs. However, water resource management tends to be highly political and increasing water prices are a sensitive and complicated policy matter. Hence, there is a need for increased understanding of the implementation process and the attitudes towards implementa...

Food affordability and quality can influence food choice. This research explores the impact of geographic factors on food pricing and quality in Western Australia (WA). A Healthy Food Access Basket (HFAB) was cost and a visual and descriptive quality assessment of 13 commonly consumed fresh produce items was conducted in-store on a representative sample of 144 food grocery stores. The WA retail...

Our primary goal is to improve public investment decisions by providing defense analysts and acquisition officials a comprehensive set of approaches to structure an “Economic Evaluation of Alternatives” (EEoA). This study identifies a significant weakness in the Multicriteria Decision-making (MCDM) approach that currently underpins many contemporary AoAs. While MCDM techniques, and therefore mo...