Health economics as an independent scientific discipline is about 30 years old. This field is now so well established that it has appeared in the curriculum of most universities. Although, health economists are mainly found in medical departments, the connection to economics proper is being strengthened. In India, scanty literature is available on the concept of health and health economics. This book provides the much needed material on health related topics.

Health is an important aspect of human resource development. Good health care facilities and services are essential for creating healthy citizens and society that can effectively contribute to social and economic development. With increased urbanisation, industrialization and the changing environment, health related issues and problems are being emphasised and have become a great concern for the contemporary world. 

Over the years, though the researchers, academicians and governments have tried to find ways and means to this, many issues and aspects of health, viz. provision of quality services and an effective delivery system, managing health expenditure and its financing and adequate expansion of service network to rural and tribal areas to achieve equity in access to health care, are yet to be completely resolved. Little attention has been paid to the micro aspects of health economics by the researchers, government, policy makers and the development planners.

The present volume, containing 16 papers, covers different aspects and issues related to health with empirical evidence. It is an initiative to partially address these issues and draw the attention of government functionaries and health planners.

The main themes which the volume covers are: health status and development, tribals’ health, determinants of health, health care service delivery and health sector financing and reforms.

The volume will provide immense inputs and help to the academicians, health researchers, policy makers, health planners and government officials.

  Himanshu Sekhar Rout was awarded Ph.D. in applied economics, M.Phil (A and A Economics), M.A. (A and A Economics), M.A. (Public Administration) and M.Ed. from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar and APA from NIIT, Tezpur, Assam. He has attended 11 training programmes/short-term courses/summer schools/winter schools at various institutions like IIT Delhi, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, ISI Kolkata, IGIDR Mumbai, IIM Kolkata, VVGNLI Noida, CSER Mumbai and CSS Surat. He has 12 years of teaching/research experience in various organisations like Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Institute of Business Administration and Management, Bhubaneswar, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Department of Economics, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. He is presently involved in both teaching and research at P.G. Department of Economics, Dr. SRK Government Arts College, (Government of Puducherry), Yanam, India. His areas of teaching and research interest include, economics of health and education, environmental economics, gender studies, rural development and tourism economics. He is a life member of Indian Economic Association, Indian Labour Economic Association, Indian Association for Research in National Income and Wealth and Orissa Commerce Association.

 Prasant Kumar Panda is presently working in the Post-graduate Department of Economics, Dr. SRK Government Arts College, Yanam, Government of Puducherry. Earlier he had worked in Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar and Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar. His research interest includes public finance and public policy, health economics and gender studies and rural development. Besides teaching, he has been constantly contributing research papers to national and international Journals.