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An economic evaluation of the war on cancer
An economic evaluation of the war on cancer
- Source :
- Journal of Health Economics. 29:333-346
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2010.
-
Abstract
- For decades, the US public and private sectors have committed substantial resources towards cancer research, but the societal payoff has not been well-understood. We quantify the value of recent gains in cancer survival, and analyze the distribution of value among various stakeholders. Between 1988 and 2000, life expectancy for cancer patients increased by roughly four years, and the average willingness-to-pay for these survival gains was roughly $322,000. Improvements in cancer survival during this period created 23 million additional life-years and roughly $1.9 trillion of additional social value, implying that the average life-year was worth approximately $82,000 to its recipient. Health care providers and pharmaceutical companies appropriated 5-19% of this total, with the rest accruing to patients. The share of value flowing to patients has been rising over time. These calculations suggest that from the patient's point of view, the rate of return to R&D investments against cancer has been substantial.
- Subjects :
- Value of Life
Economic growth
Biomedical Research
03 medical and health sciences
Life Expectancy
jel:I1
0302 clinical medicine
Cost of Illness
Neoplasms
0502 economics and business
Health care
jel:I28
Economics
Humans
Mass Screening
030212 general & internal medicine
050207 economics
Mass screening
Rate of return
Health economics
business.industry
Health Policy
05 social sciences
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Health Care Costs
Survival Analysis
United States
jel:I31
3. Good health
jel:I18
Economic evaluation
Value (economics)
Value of life
Income
Life expectancy
Demographic economics
Health Expenditures
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 01676296
- Volume :
- 29
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Health Economics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....567e6acd8e6948ffeca43a403b68ded9
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.02.006