The course is designed for students interested in understanding the fundamentals of health system financing: how it influences the capacity of countries to ensure that people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship paying for them. The fundamentals of health financing apply to all countries, but more attention will be paid to lower-income settings where the constraints are more severe. The focus will be on what works, and what does not, in raising funds for health, pooling them to allow access to needed health services and medicines while protecting people from financial hardship, and using the available funds to purchase or provide the health services that people need. Efficiency and equity will be considered as cross-cutting issues. COVID-19 showed that unexpected shocks can raise the need to spend on health and reduce a country's capacity to raise revenues. Experience dealing with unexpected shocks and more predictable emerging threats will be reviewed. Participants will be encouraged to debate key dilemmas that face health financing policy-makers.
- Teacher: David Evans
- Teacher: Dena Kirpalani
- Teacher: Rodolfo Ribeiro Coutinho Marques