IHEA’s mission

is to foster an inclusive global community of health economists, committed to strengthening the field, sharing ideas and resources, developing and applying economic theory and methods and generating evidence for improved, equitable health and health care.

IHEA and Journal Editorial Board Statements

On May 21st, 2025, the Editorial Boards of several health economics journals issued a public statement on “the principles of rigorous, open and inclusive scientific inquiry” that underpin publication in these journals (see full statement here).

IHEA has issued the following statement in support of that from the Editorial Boards:

IHEA is pleased to join with the Editorial Boards of Leading Health Economics Journals in solidarity and affirming our commitment to academic freedom, academic independence and the value of rigorous, open and inclusive scientific inquiry.

As an international association with members in all regions of the world, research integrity, rigour and independence are central to IHEA’s activities. Our structures, which include the committees that construct the scientific programme for our two-yearly congress and those that award the prestigious IHEA prizes, operate according to the principles of expert peer review, and without interference from political or commercial interests. We actively seek to ensure that these decision-making bodies are assembled with a view to inclusion and diversity, because we believe that the best decisions are made when a variety of backgrounds and perspectives are represented.

Now more than ever, academic communities must support the production and dissemination of high quality, relevant scholarship that meets the ethical standards for scientific publications and serves the purpose of improving health and health systems for all. IHEA is proud to affirm our commitment to the principles outlined in the Journal Editors’ statement.

About Us
Special
Interest Groups
Congress
& Events
Resources &
Opportunities

About us

IHEA is a not-for-profit membership organization, with over 1,500 members from more than 100 countries. It is governed by a Board of Directors and Board committees, and managed by an appointed team.

IHEA’s strategic goals are to:

Promote excellence in health economics research and teaching: IHEA pursues excellence in the field by supporting early-career researchers, strengthening the capacity of health economics researchers, teachers and practitioners and engaging around different methodological and theoretical approaches.
Promote international engagement and collaboration among health economists: IHEA facilitates collegial engagement and promotes ethical collaborative practices between health economists across countries and world regions.
Expand the profession and its impact: IHEA strives to increase recognition of the contribution of health economics to policy for social good, and to attract economists to the field, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and from diverse backgrounds.

Special Interest Groups

IHEA Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are a key platform for professional interaction between members with a common interest. There are currently 15 approved SIGs:

If you would like to discuss ideas to develop a new SIG, please contact the Executive Director.

Congress

IHEA holds a congress every second year, where health economists from around the world are able to engage around the latest methodological developments, present recent research findings and explore the implications of this research for health policy and practice.

The 15^th IHEA World Congress on Health Economics was held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from July 8-12, 2023. Access our Congress plenary recordings on our YouTube channel here.

SAVE THE DATE for the 16th IHEA World Congress which is being held in Bali from July 19 – 23, 2025.

The call for proposals to host the 2027 IHEA World Congress has closed.

Events

IHEA holds regular webinars and shares information on events organized by other groups active in the health economics field.

Resources & opportunities

IHEA provides a range of resources on the website, including:

The Teaching Materials Repository, which contains course outlines, audio-visual teaching materials, case studies and other materials shared as open educational resources.

A list and links to resources for promoting diversity and inclusion in health economics research and teaching.

IHEA offers various opportunities for health economists, including:

An annual Student Paper Prize, the annual Arrow Award and the Adam Wagstaff Award linked to the IHEA biennial congress.

A mentoring program to support early- and mid-career health economists in their professional development and personal wellbeing.

We also disseminate information on other opportunities, such as:

Career opportunities – jobs, post-doctoral fellowships and funded degree opportunities
Information on calls for research grant proposals, special issue journal submissions, and related opportunities
Training programs offered by IHEA University members