Public health, population health and planning

Prevention and health care planning play important roles in peoples’ well-being. Public health initiatives cover a very broad range of social problems and carry particular challenges for evaluation. UEA staff have been at the forefront of developing new methods for prioritising national health programmes.

The evaluation of public health interventions is often more complex than for more targeted interventions/technologies, with outcomes and costs lasting over many years and taking different forms. These may be difficult to measure by conventional economic methods and often need to look at equity too. We specialise in the economics of physical activity and have developed the MOVES model to estimate gains (such as reduced risks of weight-related diseases, and changes in other lifestyle habits such as smoking) and potential return on investment. This can be at all levels from local/regional to national, international and even global. HEC has helped several towns, regions and whole countries to plan and prioritise their health systems. Relevant work includes advising the World Health Organization on a public health insurance scheme for Sudan.