Commentary: Rational decision-making. Does efficiency explain everything?

Excerpt

In this issue of the journal, Steffen Flessa proposes that human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) should not be considered as exceptional when it comes to the allocation of scarce resources. He calls for “a more rational resource allocation” in developing countries and demands that antiretroviral treatment (ART) should “undergo a prioritisation process like any other health technology”. Suggesting efficiency as prioritisation criterion he claims that “... we definitely must not include ART into the basic package unless all other interventions that are more efficient than ART are financed for the entire population!” (emphasis added by the authors). …