Rationale Increasing attention is being given to the evaluation of public health interventions. Methods for the economic evaluation of clinical interventions are well established. In contrast, the economic evaluation of public health interventions raises additional methodological challenges. The...

Pre-budget months of recent years have seen the opposing factions of industrial and public health lobbies jostling for influence over the Chancellor's alcohol and tobacco tax policy. Industry petitions for lower tax rates, citing factory closures and redundancy figures as evidence of the...

This report assesses the economic significance, in terms of employment, of the tobacco industry to the UK economy. Government figures show that from 1970 to 1991 the number of people employed in tobacco manufacturing has fallen from about 40,000 to 12,000 (about 0.5% of total jobs). Industry...

This paper discusses the usefulness of performance indicators in health promotion. Health promotion and target-setting in health have both risen to the fore in the light of the Health of the Nation White Paper. This coupled with increasing pressure on all sectors of health care to demonstrate...

The objective of this paper is to describe a framework in which the causes of ill health (measured ultimately by reduced duration and quality of life) can be identified, and the cost-effectiveness of alternative means of reducing this ill health can be ranked. In the first part of this paper, an...

There has been a considerable adebate about the need for Government action in relation to the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. The policies discussed include tax changes, advertising controls, health education and regulation of outlets. In order to develop effective policies, an understanding...

1. The development of a strategy based on all aspects of health, not just health care provision, is to be welcomed as it is the emphasis on the outcomes, rather than the process, of implementing health policy. Health strategies can be designed to set policy agendas, to foster inter-departmental...