Should local health decision makers? use programme budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) as a basis for priority setting?

Decision makers in health care have to constantly face the problem of allocating resources judiciously. In the face of competing demands for healthcare, decision makers need to prioritise which interventions to fund. Countries around the world are trying to make these allocations decisions based on explicit framework. At a national or country level, decisions are taken under certain rules and regulations. But many times, local decision makers need to prioritise among different interventions. In these cases, the article looks at Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA) as an explicit priority setting framework for the local level. The author looks into the reasons behind the need for an explicit priority setting framework, the principles and steps of PBMA and how it is helpful at the local level.