Making choices in health

Several guidelines on cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) already exist. There are two reasons for producing another set. The first is that traditional or "incremental" CEA ignores the question of whether the current mix of interventions represents an efficient use of resources. Secondly, the resources required to evaluate the large number of interventions required to use CEA to identify opportunities to enhance efficiency are prohibitive. The approach of Generalized CEA proposed in this Guide seeks to provide analysts with a method of assessing whether the current as well as proposed mix of interventions is efficient. It also seeks to maximize the generalizability of results across settings.