Health Economics: Analyzing Resource Allocation in Public Health

This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of health economics, focusing on its application within the realm of public health. It begins with an introduction to the field, emphasizing its concern with healthcare issues and the effective allocation of scarce resources to maximize population health. The presentation then delves into an economic analysis of a chosen public health issue: obesity. It examines the case study of promoting physical activity, highlighting the scarcity of resources such as skilled staff and monetary funds. The role of economics in addressing these scarcities is discussed, including the use of demand and supply curves to illustrate market dynamics and the impact of economic policies. Furthermore, the presentation explores economic evaluation methods like cost-benefit analysis and DALYS (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) to determine the most efficient use of healthcare resources. The findings are summarized and recommendations are provided, followed by a conclusion that reinforces the importance of health economic assessment in optimizing resource allocation within public health initiatives. The assignment also includes references to relevant academic sources.

Health Economics

Contents
• Introduction
• Economic Analysis
• Conclusion
• References

INTRODUCTION
Health economics is a field of study which is concerned with issues connected
to health care (Barnett and et. al., 2014).
Health economics assessment is a tool which helps in first identifying the scarce
resources and then applying the economics methods so that fuller utilisation of
those resources can be done in order to maximise health of population
(Chorozoglou and et. al., 2015). Public health issue which is selected in this
presentation is Obesity. Obesity is a state of over weight which is a disorder of
excessive body fat which leads to back pain and shortness of breath.

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This health issue is related with the selected case study which is
Promoting physical activity by Michele Cecchini and Fiona Bull
(Deenihan and Caulfield, 2014). This case study is related with
problem in promoting health due to scarce resources (Case of
promoting physical activity, 2015). The main aim of this
presentation is to build an understanding about how economics
and its assessment tools can help in effective health care.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
Economic analysis is a systematic approach
which is used to identify scarce resources and
then implement tools and techniques to ensure
that those resources are fully utilised by needy
population (Drummond and et. al., 2015). This
analysis helps to direct the efforts towards a
mediate route in which resources are saved and
also are used in an effective way.
(Source: Economic analysis,
2019)

Resource scarcity Role of
economics
This graph is taken from the research of case study which shows lack of physical
activities has a pattern. This pattern reflects that people with higher income group are
tend to have low physical activities in their daily routine due to which they are the ones
who majorly suffer from obesity. As it can seen in graph, that the difference of physical
inactivity between low and high income people is highly considerate. In order to promote
the significance of physical activity, various resources are required.
The case study which is selected is about promoting physical activity among people so
that issues like obesity, diabetes and heart diseases can be prevented.
(Source: Case of promoting physical
activity, 2015)

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The another resource which is scarce in
context of promoting physical activity is
money. Communicating about diseases
which can occur due to physical inactivity
is a work of governmental authorities
which run on the tax revenue of the nation
due to which this resource is most scarce.
(Source: Case of promoting physical
activity, 2015)

Role of economics
Economics is the branch of study which helps in fuller utilising the resources which are
scarce. In context of the present case study, physical activity is important for the people
who are suffering from obesity as it will protect them by heart disease and other
chronic issues.
This graph is developed with the help of economics which can help in spreading
awareness about the physical activity.
(Source: Case of promoting physical activity, 2015)

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Another role of economics is
policies. With the help of economics,
governmental regulators develop
various policies which can be
effective for the purpose of
promoting physical activity (Peterson
and et. al., 2014). This role of
economics will help in reducing the
scarcity of monetary resources.
(Source: Case of promoting physical
activity, 2015)

Efficient use of health care
resources
The case study used in this presentation is based on promoting physical
activity so that people suffering from obesity can prevent any further
disease and learn the importance of being healthy (Roze and et. al.,
2015). In this process of promoting physical activity, the resources
which are considered as scarce are skilled staff and money. This issue of
scarcity can be evaded to be an extend with effective role of economics.
But evading this scarcity is not a permanent solution, an alternative way
must be identified by this these scarce resources are fully utilised.

Demand
Demand is the need and desire of a product. In terms of economics “demand” is the
quantity of a product, service or professional which consumers are willing to buy and use.
This graph is a linear demand curve which is
showing the relationship between the price and
quantity demanded for the products which are
scarce in the case of promoting physical
activity. This graph can be understood by the
one scarce resource among all the rare goods
which is skilled staff. (Source: Demand curve, 2019)

Supply
Supply is the quantity which is available to sell in the market. In terms of
economics “Supply” is the amount of resources which can be produced and
supplied by the manufacturers in order to fulfil the demand of the consumers.
Supply and production cost curve is the
graph which is used to show the
relationship between the quantity which
is available for supply and the cost at
which those resources are produced. (Source: Supply and production cost
curve, 2019)