Question

discuss the pros and cons of using death rates for policy decisions.(considering medical resources allocation, cash payment to support the citizens)

Answer 1

the pros of using the death rate for policy decision is that the outcome measure is clearly identified. While outcomes like quality of life or poverty are to an extent subjective, a person is either dead or not and thus easy to define the outcomes. Another pro is that it is very easy to gain access to the death rate data as this information is easily available from the administrative data. All deaths are registered.

But there are cons involved as well. The death rates can be a particularly crude measure. Suppose there are two countries who face a deadly disease and the death rate in country A is 5% while that in country B is 2%. Based on thsi country B decided to lift the restrictions on the movement of people and as a result, faced rapid spread of disease and widespread life loss. Why did this happen? It is because country B missed a crucial piece of information which stated that the critical illness percentage in patients is 40% in country B while it is only 20% in A. Death rates do not tell anything about the quality of life when the person is living, improving which is the goal of any policy. Some deaths may just be a result of poor life quality and forming policy on the basis of death rates will introduce a lot of bias.