Abstract: Indicators which help us evaluate the burden of a disease and its related health interventions include financial cost, mortality, and morbidity.1 Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) are two indicators that quantify the total number of years lost because of illness.2 One DALY is equal to one year of healthy life lost, and disease burden is a measure of the gap between current health status and the ideal health status.3 These indicators help us compare disease burdens, and have also been used to forecast the possible impacts of health interventions.3 However, as a limitation, DALY is a generalization of a multifaceted reality, and consequently, provides a rough indication of health impact.4 The consideration of only DALY is not enough for policy makers to base health care plans upon. Policy makers pay the greatest attention to the highest DALYs; however, the presence of lower DALYs, as the major contributing factors of disease burden, should not be ignored. For instance, maternal death maintains a high disease burden, and prevention of coughs in infants does not receive enough financial support.4
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-06-30
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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