PUBH6003 Health Systems and Economics - Case Study

Assessment 2

Part A: Group Presentation

In a small group of 3 to 4 students prepare your presentation, discuss the following issues:

1. How the public health system is both organised and funded. As part of this, describe the following:

1. The percentage of Gross Domestic Product spent upon health and how this compares with Australia (or another country);
2. Where the money to fund this system comes from;
3. How expenditures for public health services, including prevention programs, are estimated.
4. What the mix of public and private expenditure and services is;
5. Whether a proportion of funding comes from development assistance for health or any form of innovative financing;
6. The underlying trends (demographic, changes in treatment, or technology) which help to explain expenditure;
7. The extent to which health coverage is universal.
8. Any economic levers that are used, or could be used, to achieve better health outcomes in your chosen country.

2. How your chosen country performs in terms of the key elements or building blocks of the health system (as identified by WHO 2007; 2009) e.g. are there key workforce shortages in a particular profession and how might imbalances be addressed; and is the workforce appropriately trained to develop core
competencies?

3. Explain what cost---benefit analysis and cost---effectiveness analysis are and how they could be used to assist with resource allocation in relation to analysing the health system (you are not expected to perform the analysis, but you are required to understand these key concepts and say how you might go about the analysis). Additionally, describe a potential health system reform you could implement in your chosen country to improve weaknesses in the system.