title: The utility of DALYs for public health policy and research: a reply.
abstract: The WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR), through its DALY Review Group, has recently criticized the use of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). To suggest that the use of DALYs should be discouraged as an aid in health resource allocation may, however, be premature, since it enhances informed debate on the social values that influence resource allocation, identifies health problems that may be neglected, and points to the strengths and weaknesses of existing health information systems.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Lopez
mesh_terms: D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D009026:Mortality; D011634:Public Health; D012106:Research; D012307:Risk Factors; D012945:Social Values; D014944:World Health Organization