SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

MBAH600-HEALTH POLICY AND REGULATION

FINAL EXAMINATION

MONDAY 15TH MAY, 2023

09:00- 12:00 HOURS

TIME ALLOWED: 3 HOURS PLUS 5 MINUTES READING TIME

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
1. Read the instructions very carefully

2. Check that you have the correct examination paper in front of you.

3. There are SIX (6) questions in this examination paper. Answer ANY FIVE (5)
questions.

4. All questions must be answered in the examination answer booklet provided

only.

5. Write down the number of questions that you have answered on the cover of
the examination answer booklet.

6. Begin answering each question on a new page in the examination answer

booklet provided only.

7. No books, files or mechanical / electronic aids are permitted in this

examination.

8. There shall be NO COMMUNICATION AMONG STUDENTS during the

examination. Any students caught doing this will be disqualified from the
examination.

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

Page 1 of 4
QUESTION ONE (1)

The Constitution of the World Health Organization, which came into force on April 7,
1948, defined health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

REQUIRED:

A. Discuss what is wrong with this definition. (10 Marks)

B. In applied work, how would you define health? (5 Marks)
C. What are the common measures of health based on the applied work
definition? (5 Marks)
[TOTAL: 20 MARKS]

QUESTION TWO (2)

A. What does the statement “The demand for healthcare is a derived demand”
mean? (10 Marks)
B. What is the difference between health and healthcare? (10 Marks)
[TOTAL: 20 MARKS]

QUESTION THREE (3)

In trying to understand what policy is, there are several different uses of the term
policy. List and briefly explain five (5) of these uses. (20 Marks)

QUESTION FOUR (4)

According to the WHO (2003) “Learning to Live with Health Economics”, Health
policy can be considered at three levels. List and discuss these three (3) levels.
(20 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE (5)
A. What is the difference between Equity in Finance and Financial Protection?
(5 Marks)
B. Highlight the key functions that all health financing systems perform. (15 Marks)
[TOTAL: 20 MARKS]

Page 2 of 4
QUESTION SIX (6)
“I regard universal health coverage as the single most powerful concept that public
health has to offer,” stated the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Director-General
Dr Margaret Chan at a ministerial-level meeting on UHC in February 2013.

UHC is a social contract, an overarching goal towards which a health system should
steer. WHO Member States committed to this in the World Health Assembly resolution
64.9, with the definition anchored in the 2010 World Health Report: “UHC is defined
as ensuring that all people can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative
and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also
ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial
hardship.”2 In addition, Sustainable Development Goal 3.8 is to achieve universal
health coverage, a goal which all UN Member States subscribed to in September
2015.

There is no blueprint solution for the path towards UHC; instead, it is a process that
must be pursued differently in a context-specific way in each individual setting.
However, all contexts and all settings will require a health system approach to move
closer towards the overarching goal of UHC – an approach that seeks to actively
collaborate with other relevant sectors, and bring together all relevant health sector
stakeholders to discuss potential interventions to improve the population’s health.
The UHC concept takes into account the aspect of financial protection for improving
coverage, geographical accessibility and availability of care. To move towards UHC,
WHO thus recommends working on three dimensions (see diagram below): extension
of health coverage to the population not yet covered, improvement of the health
service package provided (in terms of number and quality of services), and a reduction
of cost sharing and out-of-pocket payments for health.

Page 3 of 4
REQUIRED:
Explain how priority-setting exercises can help address these three dimensions as
indicated in the diagram above. (20 Marks)

END OF FINAL EXAMINATION PAPER.

Page 4 of 4