Training on Economic Evaluation of Public Health Interventions

Public health systems operate under constrained budgets while facing growing demand for effective preventive, promotive, and curative interventions. Economic evaluation provides structured and systematic methods to compare the costs and outcomes of alternative public health programs, enabling decision-makers to allocate resources efficiently and maximize health impact.

This 10-day course provides a comprehensive and practical introduction to economic evaluation of public health interventions. Participants will explore core methodologies including cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and budget impact assessment. The training covers cost identification and measurement, outcome measurement, incremental analysis, interpretation of results, and the application of findings to policy and program design.

Through real-world case studies and hands-on exercises, participants will develop the capacity to design robust economic evaluations, interpret economic evidence, and support data-driven health financing and policy decisions.

By the end of the course, participants will be equipped to guide efficient resource allocation, strengthen public health investment decisions, and enhance overall system performance.

Duration

10 Days

Who Should Attend

• Public health program managers

• Health economists and analysts

• Policymakers and planners

• Monitoring and evaluation professionals

• Health financing officers

• Researchers and consultants

Individual Impact

• Understand economic evaluation methods
• Strengthen analytical skills
• Improve decision-making capacity
• Gain practical evaluation experience
• Enhance policy advisory competencies

Organizational Impact

• Better resource allocation
• Improved program efficiency
• Stronger evidence for funding decisions
• Enhanced accountability
• Greater health impact per investment

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain economic evaluation concepts
• Conduct cost-effectiveness analyses
• Measure costs and health outcomes
• Interpret evaluation results for policy
• Support efficient public health investments

Module 1: Introduction to Economic Evaluation in Public Health

• Purpose and importance of economic evaluation
• Types of evaluations in health systems
• Decision-making contexts
• Key concepts: costs, outcomes, efficiency
• Practical Exercise: Identifying evaluation needs

Module 2: Measuring and Valuing Costs

• Direct and indirect costs
• Health system vs societal perspective
• Data collection methods
• Costing tools and templates
• Case Study: Costing a vaccination program

Module 3: Measuring Health Outcomes

• Health indicators and effectiveness measures
• Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)
• Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
• Outcome data sources
• Practical Exercise: Outcome measurement design

Module 4: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA)

• CEA methodology
• Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs)
• Decision thresholds
• Interpreting CEA results
• Case Study: Comparing disease prevention strategies

Module 5: Cost-Benefit and Cost-Utility Analysis

• Monetizing health benefits
• Willingness-to-pay approaches
• Cost-utility frameworks
• Comparing multiple interventions
• Practical Exercise: Conducting a basic CBA

Module 6: Budget Impact Analysis

• Estimating financial implications
• Short-term vs long-term impacts
• Scaling intervention costs
• Supporting budget planning
• Case Study: Introducing a new health technology

Module 7: Dealing with Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis

• Sources of uncertainty
• One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis
• Scenario testing
• Communicating uncertainty
• Practical Exercise: Running sensitivity tests

Module 8: Using Economic Evidence in Policy and Planning

• Translating results into decisions
• Priority setting frameworks
• Health technology assessment (HTA)
• Stakeholder communication
• Case Study: Policy decisions informed by evaluation

Module 9: Ethical and Equity Considerations

• Equity in resource allocation
• Distributional impacts
• Balancing efficiency and fairness
• Ethical challenges
• Practical Exercise: Equity-focused evaluation design

Module 10: Building Sustainable Evaluation Capacity

• Institutionalizing economic evaluation
• Developing skilled teams
• Data systems and tools
• Partnerships and continuous improvement
• Practical Exercise: Developing an evaluation roadmap