Let’s imagine that exposure to UV gives you more statistical QALY than melanoma and skin aging remove. I believe this is false but let’s imagine it’s true.
Okay but there’s many other things that also give you more QALY, things that don’t increase your risk of a horrible disease or looking like a prune when you’re 40. Maybe we should do those things first and only come back to double-edged life extension techniques when we’ve completed all the benign techniques.
After all, caloric restriction also increases lifespan, but the cost is so high in terms of life enjoyment that few would be tempted. There’s more to life than time spent living.
"QALY" may not be obscure to you, but this is the first time I've ever seen it. It's always appreciated when you can spell out an acronym for other readers who maybe aren't as familiar with a topic as you are.
Given the context, Google leads me to believe:
QALY = Quality-adjusted life year
Yes, the idea is that extending life is important but not every year of life is equivalent. If you spend a year bedridden that’s not as good as a year housebound, which is not as good as a year when you are in perfect health.
So when people measure the value of interventions it’s measured in QALY.
The downside is that it’s subjective.