Abstract
Disease modelling utilizes statistical and mathematical models to address questions in biomedical sciences, ecology, epidemiology, and public health, for infectious and non-communicable diseases. When applied to global health, modelling improves our understanding of diseases affecting humans globally and supports decision-making for improving health at the individual and population levels. While a range of topics can be examined, modelling does not necessarily aim to predict the future, but to analyze hypothetical scenarios to estimate the impact and economics of interventions, and to select between them to improve health outcomes. In this chapter, we outline basic concepts for understanding the use of models to improve disease knowledge; to design or evaluate interventions to reduce the disease burden; and to support global health decision-making. We provide several examples of applications and critical questions in disease modelling for global health.
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Penny, M.A., De Salazar, P.M. (2023). Methods in Global Health: Disease Modelling. In: Raviglione, M.C.B., Tediosi, F., Villa, S., Casamitjana, N., Plasència, A. (eds) Global Health Essentials. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33851-9_82
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33851-9_82
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