Cost-Benefit Analysis and Ethics Analysis - Essay Example

Cost-benefit analysis is a systematic process used in calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project. It involves assessing the monetary social costs and benefits of a capital investment project, over a specified period. People debate public health policies on the grounds of costs and monetary benefits. Cost-benefit analysis helps in assessing the desirability of public health policy such as the countrywide immunization of children using new drugs or the supply of clean water to the community to avert the widespread of water borne disease.

For instance, in the case of a business making an investment, when the projected revenues are more than the costs then the government are expected to adopt a cost-benefit analysis of the public health policy. Cost benefit analysis ensures better regulation and avoid inefficiency in the public sector and distribution of its resources. It helps to find out whether the benefits of a given policy outweigh the costs1. Cost-benefit analysis requires expensive technique and data. When done poorly the analysis will create a false sense of clarity and precision.

It involves organizing, evaluating and presenting information about how the government can improve the public health sector. Principles of cost-benefit analysis include appraisal of a project that involves the economic technique for project appraisal. It incorporates externalities into the equation. These could include wider social impacts and the private economic costs, hence estimating the social welfare effects of the health policy. The economics of time is a principle used to determine the health impacts of the policy in the future.

The cost-benefit analysis gives an opportunity for proposals of the different public health policies to rank according to those that provide the highest benefits in social welfare, which is a significant aspect, to the limitations of government spending. Due to the use of indirect methods in approximating the monetary actions of the public health policy, cost-benefit analysis is very costly. The use of indirect methods is because many public services do not have equivalents in the private sector.

In the public health policy, human health data statistical models and laboratory experiments play a significant role. Some crucial public health protection needs can only be met effectively through government action and cost-benefit analysis provides guidance to these actions. Cost-benefit analysis is used as a channel to effective public health policies where there is the issue of inefficient market within the private sector depending on how their actions affect the health of the public. In using cost-benefit analysis in the public health policy, regulations maintenance includes those that demonstrate benefits exceeding the costs.

Because of this, the regulations will ease the burden on the business and consumers that are out of proportion to gains in health, which leads to more considerations of mechanisms of achieving desirable health2. However, cost-benefit analysis is often viewed as an inconsistent procedure and should not be emphasized on public policy decisions. Cost-benefit analysis has several problems that range from deep ethical and logical contradictions and partisan abuse. It could be detrimental when cost-benefit does not define the important benefits, in monetary terms.

Cost-benefit analysis is very costly and time-consuming because of the resources needed for a comprehensive cost-benefit ana