Overall, there is an absence of good evidence concerning what is effective, and especially cost-effective, in reducing the emergence of AMR. However, in addition to more research concerning these forms of intervention, the paper highlights four specific areas for further investigation: validating intermediate or surrogate outcome measures to enable better use to be made of the literature on intermediate measures; development and evaluation of 'macro' strategies; research into specific aspects of AMR in developing countries; and empirical and methodological research concerning the economic evaluation of interventions.

To date, there has been little examination of the problems associated with conducting economic evaluation for interventions designed to contain antimicrobial resistance. There are two quite different types of intervention aimed at containing antimicrobial resistance: interventions which are designed to avoid the emergence of resistant organisms; and interventions that are designed to avoid the transmission of resistance organisms. Four aspects of economic evaluation where the ease of assessment might be expected to differ across evaluations for these different types of intervention are examined: problems associated with the identification of diffuse impacts, problems associated with comparing current and future impacts, problems associated with uncertainty, and problems associated with difficulties in measurement and valuation. The paper suggests that it may be much easier to conduct rigorous economic evaluations for interventions designed to avoid transmission of resistance, than for those intended to avoid emergence. Unfortunately, the transmission policies, which are likely to be the easiest to evaluate, are not likely to produce an optimal long-term outcome given the apparent irreversibility of much resistance and the potentially severe harms which could be imposed as a result. Given the desirability of avoiding a scenario where, in the evidence-based medicine culture, the most rigorously evaluated policies are followed even though they may be less important, there is the need to consider carefully what, and how, economic evaluation should be conducted in the area of antimicrobial resistance. It is suggested that research should focus on the use of modelling as a means of evaluating optimal policy responses and on trying to resolve some of the difficulties associated with measurement and valuation.

No abstract

In common with other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and

General Practitioners and primary care physicians have a pivotal role in the allocation of health care resources in most countries. With increasing costs of care, they have therefore become a significant focus for healthcare reform in the pursuit of increased efficiency. For example, the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), New Zealand (NZ), Germany and The Netherlands, have all pursued reforms introducing explicit budgetary responsibilities for primary care. While there is a common set of objectives underlying such budgetary responsibilities, different versions have been introduced to reflect specific health environments. As most of these reforms were introduced in the early to middle 1990s, it is timely to examine their impact on efficiency. This paper therefore provides an econometric assessment of the effect of budgetary arrangements in the UK, USA, NZ, Germany and The Netherlands on the growth of primary care expenditure and flow-on costs (as proxied by pharmaceutical expenditure), as proxy indicators for efficiency. The results suggest that for all countries there is some support for efficiency improvements through the implementation of budgets for primary care.