Taking a snapshot of the economics of prevention

What is the issue?

Public health advocates and policy makers argue for a greater share of health resources to go to prevention and health promotion, but little is known about which interventions offer the best health returns. Also, there is little sense of what the economic literature in health promotion looks like overall – that is, where is the economic evidence plentiful and where is it lacking?

How did the project address the issue?

The project took a snapshot of the current state of the economic evidence as it relates to prevention and health promotion. It aimed to categorise all published economic evaluations of primary prevention interventions relevant to health policy in Australia, identifying areas where the economic evidence is plentiful and areas where more evaluation has to be done.

Relevance for practice

By identifying areas where the economic evidence is scant and where a new evaluation project might add value, this project will help to identify priorities for research to support the agenda of the Prevention Centre and our partners.