In cancer patients, an inability to access the surgical system can be lethal, but accessing it can be impoverishing, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A group from the Global Surgery and Social Change, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical, supported by National Cancer Institute used AnyLogic Software to evaluate the health, financial, and equity impacts of governmental and charitable policies for surgical oncology in a resource-limited setting.
Utilizing agent-based modeling, nine policies and platforms were evaluated to provide simultaneous health and financial benefits, efficiently and equitably. The results, recently published in PLOS ONE, demonstrate that mobile surgical units are an efficient and equitable method for improving health and protecting against medical impoverishment. These platforms compare well with comprehensive health-systems-strengthening policies.
Read the full paper here.
