Abstract
There appears to be a growing number of prioritization exercises, for example of diseases, in health related settings. Here we review trends in such prioritization exercises and focus on prioritization methodologies and their sound application. Our review shows that mistakes commonly reported in the social sciences are also prevalent in public and animal health settings. We finish with a review of the tool used by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to qualitatively assess performance of veterinary services and prioritize interventions, and propose a framework for extending the OIE tool to a fully quantifiable decision support system.