 |
The DALY
approach which is the basis of the Global Burden of Disease currently in use has been much
critisized because the method presupposes that life years of disabled people are worth
less than life years of people without disabilities. The method assumes that disabled
people are less entitled to scarce health resources for interventions that would extend
their lives. The line of thought from the first question to the application in cost
effectiveness analyses seems to be that the healthier the person, the more valuable their
life is to themself and to society and the greater their claim on restricted healthcare
resources to have their life extended. This makes sense only if the value of life is not
seen as a dimension distinct from health, but rather as a direct positive function of
health. At worst, this line of thinking could lead to the following table: |
