Health economics and cost-effective decision making: addressing contemporary challenges and exploring solutions in Pakistan

Abstract

Health economics plays a vital role in underpinning the healthcare costs and their significant impact on healthcare decisions, particularly in resource-scarce settings such as Pakistan. this article emphasizes the multifaceted cost considerations in healthcare, including both direct treatment costs and often-overlooked indirect expenses like travel, parking, special diets, and lost wages due to illness. The article emphasizes the role of economic evaluations in addressing Pakistan's healthcare challenges, examining cost-effective options and providing a roadmap for a healthier future. An evidences synthesis approach was applied to explore possible solutions to health challenges. In addition to this, expert opinions were taken into account to investigate how economic concept are relevant in decision making for healthcare. The published qualitative data were combined, organized according to research objective and reported in tabular form. Economic concepts and evaluations are found useful in relation to healthcare infrastructure of Pakistan. There are possible economic solutions available to cope with the hurdles of health system. This article advocates the policymakers to prioritize involving health economists in policy formulation and promoting low-cost or cost-effective health interventions, ensuring fair allocation of health budget.