Introduction

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 1 introduces recent developments in the field of health economics and specifically economic evaluation of public health interventions. We describe the use of conventional methods of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA), and emerging interest in cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and alternative paradigms such as capability theory and measurement, as well as new interest in return on investment (ROI) and social return on investment (SROI) methods. We go on to introduce the idea of the precautionary principle in public health economics. Moving along a spectrum from the gold standard of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), this chapter explores the different forms of evidence to inform, at a timely and appropriate cost, investment decisions in public health and prevention. During the COVID-19 pandemic there was a need to make decisions about health and social care spending without RCT evidence but rather a range of evidence. We set the scene for the subsequent chapters of this book through a life-course model.