The high-level conference organised by ASEF Public Health Network (ASEF PHN) titled “Pandemic & the Economy 2023: A Pandemic-Resilient Society” took place in Helsinki, Finland, on 6-7 June 2023. The conference aimed to foster a dialogue between public health and non-health sectors on effectively managing the public health and economy trade-off during crises like COVID-19 in the foreseeable future. During the event, participants recognised that higher priority would naturally be placed on shorter-term planning during resource allocation.
To make the case for sustained funding and planning for future public health challenges, Dr Fergus CUMMING, Chief Economist of the UK Health Security Agency, shared three tangible actions that public health authorities can take to effectively advocate for longer-term investments in public health to budget holders.
About the Author
Dr Fergus Cumming is the Deputy Director of Advanced Analytics and Chief Economist at the UK Health Security Agency, where he leads multidisciplinary teams that provide actionable insights for the health-related public bodies associated with the UK government. Before that, he worked at the Bank of England on monetary policy and financial stability issues for more than a decade. Dr Cumming completed his DPhil in Economics at Nuffield College, Oxford and holds a BSc and MSc from the London School of Economics. His research interests include macro-health economics, macroeconomics, and institutional design.