Economics of Prevention

Health promotion and disease prevention have a major role to play in health policy, and the case for investing in this area is now stronger than ever.  Chronic diseases are one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. While many associated risk factors are largely preventable, prevention policies are severely underused, partly because lack of strong evidence to support the economic return on investment on interventions.

The aim of this course is to provide an economic perspective on the challenges to improve health promotion and chronic disease prevention. The first part of the course explores how economics can contribute to our understanding of the crucial role of prevention to improve the health of our society. We will discuss basic concepts and theories, such as externalities, public goods, economic incentives, and cost-benefit analysis. The second part of the course consists of a review of the empirical literature and analytical models used to evaluate prevention policies, exploring available evidence on some of the most prevalent chronic diseases with a focus on how to understand the economic GDP and societal ROI and how to use this information to inform and conduct policy. We will also discuss whether there are better methods to gather evidence than those currently employed.