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Giving arguments to operationalize health capabilities in economic evaluations of health interventions

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Abstract

This article argues that health capabilities should be used to generate a measure of health-related quality of life so that health policy avoids expanding to encompass problems related to total well-being. To this end, health should be defined holistically, considering it as internal capabilities related to the physical, mental, and social domains. While different sets of health capabilities can be considered depending on their purpose, a synthesized set composed of health, health agency, material conditions and community dimensions incorporating this holistic definition of health together with external conditions is proposed. Valuation of this set for its use in large-scale projects should be done using worked or corrected preferences, elicited through public discussion and hybrid methods. Finally, a weighted sum ranking, social health-related capability functional together with a sufficientarian perspective, is proposed as a feasible method by which to aggregate individual health capabilities while taking into account concerns about efficiency and equity.

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Notes

  1. Internal capabilities are not just innate equipment; “they are trained or developed traits and abilities, developed, in most cases, in interaction with the social, economic, familial, and political environment” (Nussbaum 2011, p. 21). These include for example, personality traits, intellectual and emotional capacities, states of bodily fitness and health, internalized learning, and skills of perception and movement.

  2. In fact, this definition was established in Article 12.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted in 1966.

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  1. Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación-Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (SEPI-ESE-IPN), Plan de Agua Prieta 66, Col. Plutarco Elías Calles, Mexico City, 11340, Mexico

    Marco Ricardo Téllez Cabrera

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  1. Marco Ricardo Téllez Cabrera
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Correspondence to Marco Ricardo Téllez Cabrera.

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Téllez Cabrera, M.R. Giving arguments to operationalize health capabilities in economic evaluations of health interventions. J. Soc. Econ. Dev. 20, 240–255 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-018-0069-z

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