BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Priority setting in health research is a dynamic process. Different organizations and institutes have been working in the field of research priority setting for many years. In 1999 the Global Forum for Health Research presented a research priority setting tool called the Combined Approach Matrix or CAM. Since its development, the CAM has been successfully applied to set r...

BACKGROUND The double burden of infectious diseases coupled with noncommunicable diseases poses unique challenges for priority setting and for achieving equitable action to address the major causes of disease burden in health systems already impacted by limited resources. Noncommunicable disease control is an important global health and development priority. However, there are challenges for tr...

In recent years, shortages of radioisotopes that cannot be stockpiled have created a scenario in which they may be considered, periodically, a scarce medical resource. This discussion focuses on the just allocation of medical radioisotopes and presents the dominant ethical frameworks for rationing and priority setting in the patient populations most affected. Priority setting is necessary when ...

This paper provides a brief overview of research priority setting methods at various levels in national research systems, noting the changing emphasis from supply-driven to demand-driven approaches at both macro-and micro levels of priority setting. The scope for incorporation of a poverty dimension into priority setting is then reviewed within a general framework that recognizes the complexity...

The Disease Control Priorities program (DCP) has pioneered the use of economic evidence in health. The theory of change (ToC) put forward by Norheim is a further welcome and necessary step towards translating DCP evidence into better priority setting in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We also agree that institutionalising evidence for informed priority-setting processes is crucial. Un...

Background Different strategies for addressing the challenge of prioritizing elective patients efficiently and fairly have been introduced in Norway. In the time period studied, there were three possible outcomes for elective patients that had been through the process of priority setting: (i) high priority with assigned individual maximum waiting time; (ii) low priority without a maximum waitin...

In dealing with scarcity of resources within healthcare systems, decision-makers inevitably have to make choices about which services to fund. Setting priorities represents a challenging task that requires systematic, explicit and transparent methodologies with focus on economic efficiency. In addition, the engagement of the general public in the process of decision-making has been regarded as ...