A week in into their course and after a series of induction activities that included a formal opening dinner, our students are tackling what’s quickly becoming one of the most exciting parts of the MPP – the Policy Challenge.
The two-day intensive module introduces key issues faced by governments and policymakers, and aims at developing students’ analytical skills. This year’s theme is health care – a topic growing in importance, especially as more governments and international organisations endorse Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as a strategy to improve a country’s health and development. According to the World Health Organisation, its goal is “to ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.”
Through seminars with expert practitioners, students learnt about Universal Health Coverage, why it matters and to whom, and how it can be achieved. The seminars were based on case studies of health care reforms and strategies in countries as diverse as China and India; students explored how countries can use limited resources effectively, prioritise multiple goals and investigate the political costs and benefits. The afternoon was spent doing case-based group work – students were divided into groups to discuss a set of questions about a specific country.
Professor Winnie Yip, who convenes this module with Dr Adam Ritchie, said: “Through the Policy Challenge students gain an understanding of some of the complex challenges of the health sector and the social impacts of reforms. But most of all, we encourage them to look at public policy analysis from various perspectives such as economics, politics, ethics and use robust and reliable evidence. In this way, they develop the analytical skills that they will need for a career in any sector of public policy.”
Today there have been panel discussions about the role of private sector in health care financing to achieve an efficient and inclusive system and this afternoon – as you can see from the photo we've taken earlier – students are taking part in debates and in the final discussion.
Read more about the MPP course modules.
