Opinion: Cost-effectiveness of health interventions may be perpetuating health disparities. Here’s how to fix that
As an epidemiologist and physician, I’ve long been concerned about how health interventions for marginalized communities are evaluated. A new study explores that concern and offers some solutions for making cost-effectiveness analyses work for everyone.
Many of my patients live in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, which is disproportionately Black, cut off from the rest of the city by freeways, and has a toxic waste problem from a nearby shipyard. The neighborhood often fails to secure new investments required to maintain health clinics or develop mixed-income housing or grocery stores due, in part, to cost-effectiveness analyses that show investment in the community won’t drive returns.
