Public Health Measures Always Involve Trade-Offs

From the New York Times:
There are two reasons for [this]. First, no action can save a life indefinitely; life can only be extended. Saving the life of an infant leads to more expected life years than saving the life of a centenarian.
Second, health economists are typically concerned with finding policies that maximize the total number of life years, or, equivalently, the average life expectancy of the population, leaving aside quality-of-life issues for now. A focus on life years recognizes that there are inevitable trade-offs involved in health and safety policies.
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