Allocating Resources to Control Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Summary How can decision makers best choose among competing epidemic control programs and populations? The problem of resource allocation for epidemic control is complex, and differs in a number of significant ways from traditional resource allocation problems. A variety of OR-based methods have been applied to the problem, including standard cost-effectiveness analysis, linear and integer programming, simulation, numerical procedures, optimal control methodologies, nonlinear optimization, and heuristic approaches. This chapter reviews a number of these models. This chapter does not aim to be an exhaustive review of the literature; rather, we discuss an illustrative subset of existing models. We conclude with discussion of promising areas for further research.