Abstract

SEUC JO, Armando. Implicaciones sociales de las medidas resúmenes del estado de salud de una población. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2003, vol.29, n.2, pp. 147-156. ISSN 1561-3127.

The summary measures of the health status of the population are a relevant indicator to describe the health status of the population, to evaluate the effect of alternative health programs in terms of cost-utility, and to support decisions connected with the allotment of resources to improve the population's health. The WHO, in 1990 and in 2000, too, used a particular summary measure of the population's health to evaluate the burden associated with a great number of diseases and their sequelae, the DALYs. These summary measures which are widely used and debated in scientific literature have a series of social implications that are an important component of the above mentioned debate. In this paper, we made some reflexions on the main social implications of these measures in order to contribute to an adequate discussion of this topic in our country. One of the fundamental conclusions of this paper is the inevitability of taking part in the ethical and moral dilemmas that may emerge, which oppose against the generalized idea that these topics may be ignored

Keywords : STATE HEALTH PLANS; INDICATORS OF MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY; HEALTH CARE COSTS; HEALTH CARE RATIONING.

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