Health Economics Issues in Malaysia

It is an accepted fact that economic considerations play an important role in all aspects of life. Thus, health policy and its implementation are strongly influenced by macro-economic considerations; and this is where health economics tools can help the planners in making choices. Although health ecnomics in Malaysia is increasingly recognized as a discipline that has much to offer in decision making toward efficient allocation of resources, it has remained as the preserve of a few specialist and is not widely used by others in the health sector. Health economics, as a sub-specialty of Public health, is at its’ infancy in terms of research and development. It is evident that there are plenty of research opportunities and possibilities in the field of the health economics that might benefit the development of the health care sector in this country. Lack of funding should not constrain the development of heatlh economics research here. A wider understanding of the discipline is requiered if it is to support health sectors, rather than remain as the preserve of a few specialists.

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