Ethics and equity in priority-setting for health: creating an ethics working group for the international Decision Support Initiative (iDSI)

The international Decision Support Initiative (iDSI), established in 2013 and led by NICE International (UK), is a partnership of organisations supporting government decision-makers in low- and middle-income countries in their efforts to set priorities for public spending on the health sector more systematically. Priority setting for health in resource-limited settings is morally complex, and policymakers face ethical dilemmas in healthcare spending decisions. King’s College London, in partnership with NICE International, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute for Bioethics, the Centre for Global Development and Stellenbosch University proposes establishing an Ethics and Equity Working Group to work with iSDI in providing practical guidance to governments in navigating the ethical challenges of priority setting, safeguarding against egregious moral harms from inappropriate resource allocations, supporting morally defensible decision-making and developing a research strategy for future guidance. This funding will enable vision, strategy and implementation arrangements for a fully operational working group to be developed.