The WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR), through its DALY Review Group, has recently criticized the use of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). To suggest that the use of DALYs should be discouraged as an aid in health resource allocation may, however, be premature, since it enhances informed debate on the social values that influence resource allocation, identifies health problems that may be neglected, and points to the strengths and weaknesses of existing health information systems.