Health Economics
Governments around the world are increasingly aware of the urge to provide the most suitable and efficient health interventions to keep their population healthy and productive. In fact, the rapid change in global health patterns, capricious nature of disease burden, high cost of health care, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals, which are imposed on governments are increasing as a result of continuous population growth. This emphasizes the compelling need for raising awareness on issues related to health economics, health financing and policy with tracks for administrative, executory, and operational management to address the different obstacles and challenges governments are nowadays facing.
Thus, governments are facing more challenges in relation to making the most appropriate decision among different alternatives of interventions to provide efficient quality health care. With the very low resources available, health economics is here to serve as tool for appropriate resource allocation to provide better health outcomes. Comparing the cost and the consequences of the health interventions seeks to maximize the benefit from the scarce resources available for the health sector and looks for cost-effective products for governments. “In order to make that decision, policy makers need to foresee the cost-effectiveness of their decision before the actual implementation of the program. Therefore, mathematical models become particularly useful in predicting the long-term outcomes”.
Health economics is concerned with the alternative uses of resources in the health services’ sector and with the efficient utilization of resources such as human resources, material, and financial resources. Every health worker needs to acquaint him/herself with the basic concepts of economics and its application to the health sector in order to efficiently manage health institutions and health delivery systems.
Health economics can help answer many system-related questions such as who produces health and how? What are the channels through which health inputs affect health and how can their effects be correctly measured? To what extent is the demand for health inputs responsive to variables that can be changed by public policy, such as household income, time, and money prices?
“Health economics” courses are meant to provide health professionals with the basic principles regarding economics and its application in the health sector to help them in making decisions.
Each training course is delivered in (30) Learning Hours. These courses can be taken as part of the three-month program (Post Graduate Diploma Certificate) or as stand-alone course. The participant will be awarded a Certificate of Successful Completion upon meeting the course requirements by the International Academy of Public Health (IAPH) and accredited by the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA).
