HE: Self-introduction to the IHE course | University of Rwanda

Hello everyone!
I am happy to be part of this course unit of Introduction to Health economics.
1. My name is Twagirumukiza Jean Damascene, I am a Mater of science in epidemiology candidate at school of public health, college of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda and I am the Class representative of MPH-MSc Epi 2018/2019 cohort.
My background: I am a holder of Bachelor of Science in Medicine and Surgery and I am currently working at Ruhango Provincial Hospital as a general practitioner.
2. Introduction to Health economics is important to the health care system as it can help to:
-Provide information to decision makers in health sector on the efficient use of the available resources in health facilities to maximize health benefits.
-Make the economic evaluation of health institutions that can can help in the cost minimization, cost-effectiveness and the availability of services in health institutions.
3. With the spread of COVID-19 which has affected the global economy (in all countries), health economic principles will help the decision makers to properly orient the few available resources and planning to use them effectively in health facilities so that health services will continue to be provided with the obvious gaps in those services.

All these can be obtained through the following principles of health economics that include the notions of scarcity, discounting, supply and demand, distinctions between need and demand, opportunity cost, time horizons, margins, efficiency and equity

Thank you.

Re: Self-introduction to the IHE course

by Jeanne d'Arc Nyinawankusi - Sunday, 14 June 2020, 1:18 PM

Dear Twagirumukiza,

I agree with you that the Health economics principles will help decision makers for planning However, given the surprising image of Covid 19, the flow of number of cases and deaths; we can not simply talk about the use of few available resources as you mentioned. With the pandemic Covid 19, we experienced problems related to unexpected needs of resources.
Related pandemic policy should be elaborated, clear, understandable and easy to implement globally. Some unusual strategies might be used; for example; hotels, administrative buildings might be transformed in quarantine sites. Some tasks might be allocated to non health professionals, example: Covid 19 contacts investigations, contact tracing, Infection Prevention and control measures even vital signs like body temperature can be taken by security officer.