Table 3 Case study—Ghana [18]

An MCDA was undertaken to guide the national Ministry of Health in Ghana in priority setting, by ranking 26 interventions. Specifically, the MCDA quantified the trade-off between equity, efficiency, and other societal concerns in health. A focus group of seven policymakers identified the relevant criteria for priority setting, including: the severity of the disease, the number of potential beneficiaries, the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, whether the intervention reduced poverty, and whether the intervention targeted a vulnerable population. A total of 63 policymakers participated in a discrete choice survey, and regression analysis was used to infer from their choices the weights associated with criteria

The priority-setting process was strongly embedded in the organisation context of the Ministry of Health to ensure its integration into the third Five Year Program of Work. Anecdotal evidence showed that policymakers used the study findings as part of the development of their Five Year Programme of Work