title: Estimating the Costs of Torture: Challenges and Opportunities.
abstract: Due to its nature, extent and consequences, torture is considered a major public health problem and a serious violation of human rights. Our study aims to set the foundation for a theoretical framework of the costs related to torture. It examines existing challenges and proposes some solutions. Our proposed framework targets policy makers, human rights activists, professionals working in programmes, centres and rehabilitation projects, judges and lawyers, survivors of torture and their families and anyone involved in the prevention and fight against this practice and its consequences. We adopted a methodology previously used in studies investigating the challenges in measuring and valuing productivity costs in health disorders. We identify and discuss conceptual, methodological, political and ethical challenges that studies on the economic and social costs of torture pose and propose alternatives in terms of possible solutions to these challenges. The economic dimension of torture is rarely debated and integrated in research, policies and programmes. Several challenges such as epistemological, methodological, ethical or political ones have often been presented as obstacles to cost studies of torture and as an excuse for not investigating this dimension. In identifying, analysing and proposing solutions to these challenges, we intend to stimulate the integration of the economic dimension in research and prevention of torture strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Campus Biotech, Chemin des Mines 9, 1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland. emmanuel.kabengele@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Emmanuel Kabengele
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Mpinga
authors.affiliation: Health Economics and Evidence Synthesis Research Unit, Department of Population Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), Strassen, Luxembourg.|Department of Mathematics and Information sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Ngianga-Bakwin
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Kandala
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Campus Biotech, Chemin des Mines 9, 1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hasselgård-Rowe
authors.affiliation: Departement of Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Systems, Institut Supérieur des Techniques Médicales, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: Félicien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tshimungu Kandolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences La Source, University of Applied Sciences, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verloo
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Wichita state University, Wichita, USA.
authors.forename: Ngoyi K Zacharie
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Bukonda
authors.affiliation: Public Health Schweiz, Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chastonay
mesh_terms: D017281:Cost of Illness; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003710:Demography; D006801:Humans; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000191:economics*; D012923:Social Class; D014104:Torture