The Future of Disease Control Priorities Comment on "Disease Control Priorities Third Edition Is Published: A Theory of Change Is Needed for Translating Evidence to Health Policy".

Prabhat Jha

doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2018.119

Abstract

The Disease Control Priorities (DCP) project has substantially influenced national and global health priorities since 1993. DCP’s basic framework involves identification of disease burdens based on premature deaths and disability and application of the most cost-effective interventions to the largest burdens, taking into account local feasibility. The future impact of DCP will need to take into account growing national wealth and needs for endogenous capacity to design and implement evidence-based interventions, the rapid emergence of non-communicable disease (NCD), and the universal health coverage (UHC) agenda. This in turn requires three improvements to the DCP framework: greater local capacity, supported by a global effort to cost health interventions, stronger national and international technical capacity and networks, and the use of direct, versus modelled, mortality data to assign priorities and to assess progress. Properly done, DCP could be as important over the next 25 years as it has been in the past 25 years.

Highlights

The Future of Disease Control Priorities For much of the last 25 years, the framework set out in the Disease Control Priorities (DCP) project has influenced global health directions
The basic framework is to identify disease burdens based on premature deaths and disability, and apply the most cost-effective interventions to the largest burdens, taking into account local feasibility
These are assembled into priority “packages” that can be introduced at the country level, as illustrated from DCP application to India (Figure).[1]

Summary

Introduction

The Future of Disease Control Priorities For much of the last 25 years, the framework set out in the Disease Control Priorities (DCP) project has influenced global health directions. Impact of Disease Control Priorities DCP1 informed the design of a $1 billion portfolio of World Bank-assisted state-level health systems and categorical disease control programs in India.[8] More recently, the DCP2 methodology has been applied nationally[1] and for the state of Karnataka,[9] and is influencing the debate on introduction of UHC.

Results

Conclusion