7.O. Scientific session: Towards evidence-based policy using burden of disease methods
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Burden of disease (BoD) methods have become essential tools for quantifying the impact of diseases and risk factors on population health. They help researchers and public health professionals understand the distribution and magnitude of health problems across populations and over time. However, how BoD methods can be applied, from describing health patterns to exploring policy-relevant scenarios, is still evolving and calls for further discussion. This scientific session brings together four presentations that each illustrate a different level of BoD analysis. Rather than presenting a single prescriptive approach, the session highlights the diverse insights into what these methods can offer and how they might be used in different public health contexts. Together, the presentations provide a structured overview of how BoD methods can support reflection, communication, and decision-making across various stages of health analysis and planning. The first presentation introduces national BoD studies and their role in describing health challenges, offering a broad overview of mortality and disability. This foundation helps identify which health problems are most pressing and how they vary by sub-national region, age, and sex. Once the main disease contributors to the burden are understood, we can ask how much of that burden might be preventable. The second presentation focuses on the Population Attributable Fraction (PAF), which estimates the proportion of disease burden theoretically preventable if exposure to a risk factor (such as tobacco or alcohol use) were eliminated. PAF provides insight into the potential for prevention and helps frame discussions around risk factors. The third presentation introduces the Potential Impact Fraction (PIF), a complementary method used to estimate how much burden could be reduced under more realistic, achievable changes in exposure, such as a 10% reduction in smoking prevalence. This approach allows participants to explore what kinds of health impacts might be expected under feasible intervention scenarios. The fourth presentation focuses on foresight, showing how BoD data can be combined with projections or policy targets to explore long-term scenarios and future health challenges. This perspective supports the anticipation of emerging trends and the alignment of public health research with longer-term societal goals. To enhance learning and encourage engagement, each presentation will be followed by brief audience interaction. This allows participants to share experiences, raise methodological questions, and reflect on how they might use these approaches in their work. Rather than prescribing results, this session creates space to consider the multiple ways policy can be shaped using methods complementary to BoD. The coherence between the presentations lies in their progressive structure: from understanding disease burden to exploring attribution, intervention impacts, and forward-looking applications. Key messages • Burden of disease methods offer layered insights: from describing the burden to exploring prevention and future scenarios. • Participants will discover different ways BoD data can inform public health reflection and analysis.
Authors: Organised by: EUPHA Public Health Economics section, EUPHA Foresight section, European Burden of Disease Network, Chair persons: Sarah Nayani (Belgium), Vanessa Gorasso (EUPHA-ECO)
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,181
OpenAlex ID: W7101443670
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