Methods to assess the costs and health effects of interventions for improving health in developing countries

Abstract

Introduction Assessment of the cost effectiveness of interventions designed to achieve the millennium development goals for health is complex. The methods must be capable of showing the efficiency with which current and possible new resources are used, and incorporating interactions between concurrent interventions and the effect of expanding coverage on unit costs.1 They should also allow valid comparisons across a wide range of interventions. Here we describe how the standardised cost effectiveness methods used in the World Health Organization's Choosing Interventions that are Cost Effective (CHOICE) project have tackled these issues.