Professor Laura Bojke Appointed Inaugural Chair of WHO Advisory Group on Economics for Climate, Environment, and Health

Professor Laura Bojke Appointed Inaugural Chair of WHO Advisory Group on Economics for Climate, Environment, and Health

(IN BRIEF) Professor Laura Bojke, an esteemed expert in health economics from the University of York’s Centre for Health Economics, has been named the Inaugural Chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) Advisory Group on Economics for Environment, Climate Change, and Health (TAG-EconECH). This advisory group, composed of 11 members drawn from the global academic community, will provide independent assessments of the scientific, technical, and strategic aspects of the economics relating to environment, climate change, and health. They will focus on the global Investment Case for Health, Environment, and Climate Change, offer recommendations on economic evaluation and analysis topics, advise WHO on related matters, and review and suggest priorities, economic models, and estimates for interventions addressing environmental, climatic, and occupational risk factors. Professor Bojke’s extensive expertise in health economics, evidence synthesis, health inequalities, and public health positions her well for this important role. Her appointment reflects the University of York’s global contributions to meaningful change for the public good through collaborative research efforts.

(PRESS RELEASE) YORK, 4-Dec-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — Professor Laura Bojke from York’s Centre for Health Economics, appointed as Inaugural Chair for the World Health Organization (WHO) Advisory Group on Economics for Environment, Climate Change and Health (TAG-EconECH).

The expert group, comprising 11 members drawn from the global academic community, will serve in their personal capacities to represent the broad range of disciplines relevant to economics for environment, climate change and health.

They will:

• Provide independent evaluation of the scientific technical and strategic aspects of the economics for environment, climate change and health, with a focus on the global Investment Case for Health, Environment and Climate Change;
• Recommend priority topics related to economic evaluation and analysis for environment, climate change and health for consideration within the Organization and/or relevant technical unit;
• Advise WHO on its economic evaluation and analysis for environment, climate change and health, especially as it relates to the global Investment Case for Health, Environment and Climate Change; and
• Review and make recommendations to WHO on disease and intervention priorities, economic models and estimates (e.g., of cost of inaction, intervention costs, economic benefits, and cost-benefits), and economic arguments for interventions addressing environmental, climatic and occupational risk factor.

Professor Laura Bojke

Professor Bojke is Professor of Health Economics at the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York, UK. Her areas of expertise include health economics, evidence synthesis, health inequalities, and public health. She currently co-leads the Health Economics, Equity and Evaluation cross cutting theme for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration in Yorkshire and Humber. working across many public health topics, focussing on the efficient use of limited resources and maximisation of outcomes.

She has worked across multiple projects spanning health and the environment. These have looked at mitigation and adaptation to address combat change and also the use of blue/green spaces to improve health and the environment. She is a  co-investigator on the BiB Breathes project funded by the National Institute for Health Research to look at the impact of a clean air zone on costs and outcomes across sectors.

Public good

Professor Karen Rowlingson, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, said: “Professor Bojke’s expertise in economic evaluation and the application of analytic models, combined with her experience contributing to independent academic groups makes her an ideal choice for the Inaugural Chair of the WHO committee. This appointment demonstrates how researchers at the University of York are working globally and collaboratively to create meaningful change for the public good.”

Centre for Health Economics 

With around 70 economists, the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at the University of York is a world-renowned institute that produces policy relevant research and innovative methods that advance the use of health economics to improve population health. 2023 marks its 40th anniversary delivering pioneering research in the realm of health economics.

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SOURCE: University of York