A cost-benefit analysis of the Quebec network of genetic medicine

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Abstract

Certain serious diseases, including several major genetic disorders, cannot be treated effectively unless they are detected before symptoms appear. In such cases, only systematic population screening can ensure that the necessary preventive treatment can be administered to affected individuals. The question of whether to establish such screening programs, which may be relatively costly, is a problem for many public administrations. This study of the costs and benefits of the Quebec Network of Genetic Medicine has as its main objective the development of an analytical framework which can be generally applied to such problems.

In this article, we attempt to evaluate the profitability of the Network to society. For the evaluation of the less tangible costs and benefits, we adopted the minimum profitability principle, which essentially involves establishing a lower bound on the value of the profitability of the Network. The net benefits assessed by this study, although certainly underestimated, are still very significant.

Since the Network is administered by a team of researchers, the study also throws some light on the links existing between research and development activities on the one hand and public services on the other, and hence on the general question of the socioeconomic profitability of biomedical research.

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Preliminary results of this research project were presented at the Seventh International Conference on Social Science and Medicine, in Leewenhorst, The Netherlands, in June 1981 and also at the Symposium of the Club de Recherches Cliniques du Québec, at Mont Tremblant, Canada, in September 1981. In both cases, the comments of the participants were very helpful.

The authors would like to thank Mrs E. Cloutier from le Ministére des Affaires Sociales du Québec, Mrs C. Clow of the Montreal Children's Hospital, Mr J.-P. Dubé of Laval University Hospital Center, Dr J.H. Dussault, Dr C. Laberge and Dr C.R. Scriver, for their invaluable collaboration. Miss N. Nadeau and Mr P. Saint-Laurent worked on the project as research assistants. The main elements of their contributions can be found in Nadeau [2] and Saint-Laurent [3]. The authors also benefited from stimulating discussions with Me O. Jobin-Laberge. Financial support of the project was provided by l'Association Canadienne des Médecins de Langue Francaise, le Ministrére de l'Education du Québec and l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Montréal. The authors wish to acknowledge specially the help of Dr M. Chrétien who supported them in all aspects of the research.

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