Penn Bioethics Seminar (PBS): "Setting Priorities in Allocating Scarce Health Resources" - Ole F. Norheim, MD

Setting Priorities in Allocating Scarce Health Resources
 

Ole F. Norheim, MD

Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Ethics and Population Health
Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Health systems everywhere face the same hard question: how should limited resources be allocated when needs exceed budgets? In this talk, Professor Ole F. Norheim examines the ethical foundations of priority setting in health care and the practical tools available to decision makers. Drawing on decades of work in global health and in Norway, he explores how evidence and economic analysis can inform efficient, fair and transparent priority setting. 

Norheim argues that efficiency alone is insufficient. Ethical principles, including giving priority to the worse off and reducing unjust health inequalities, must be embedded in policy frameworks. He discusses how severity of illness, lifetime health prospects, and distributive justice can be operationalized alongside cost-effectiveness thresholds to guide real-world decisions. 

Streaming available via Zoom.