Medical economics - medico economics

Japanese: 医療経済学 - いりょうけいざいがく（英語表記）medico economics

A new academic field that analyzes and studies various issues in the fields of health and medical care from an economic perspective. The term health economics or health economics has been used in the United States since the 1950s, and has gradually become more common in Japan since the 1960s, but there are differences in its definition, subject, and methodology depending on the commentator. The relationship between health and medical issues and economic phenomena has been discussed in public health and social hygiene since the 19th century, such as the vicious cycle of poverty and disease, and the securing of labor and reduction of poor relief costs through investment in health and environmental improvement projects. However, the term health economics has recently been used and economists have begun to take up health and medical issues due to the intensification of medical contradictions, including the increase in national medical expenses, and the advancement of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and analysis of medical expenses issues at the national level is being carried out. Regarding health economics, there are also criticisms of the limitations and dangers of using traditional market-based economics to deal with issues related to health, which is a human right and an absolute value. From the perspective of Marxist economics, the term health economics is used to describe a discipline that analyzes, from a political and economic perspective, the intertwining of health and medical issues with medical systems, medical policies, the medical industry, and economic systems.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

保健，医療領域における諸問題を経済学的に分析，研究する新しい学問分野。医療経済学あるいは保健経済学という名称はアメリカでは 1950年代から使われるようになり，日本でも 60年代以降次第に一般化してきているが，その定義，対象，方法に関しては論者により相違がみられる。保健・医療問題と経済現象とのかかわりについては，すでに 19世紀から公衆衛生学，社会衛生学などで，貧困と疾病の悪循環や，保健事業，環境改善事業への投資による労働力の確保や救貧費用の削減などが取上げられていた。しかし最近，医療経済学の名称が使われ，経済学者が保健・医療問題を取上げるようになったことには，国民医療費の増大をはじめとする医療矛盾の激化，医薬品・医療機器産業の進出などの背景があり，国レベルでの医療費問題の分析などが進められている。医療経済学に対しては，人権であり絶対的価値である健康にかかわる問題を，従来の市場原理に立つ経済学で扱うことの限界，あるいは危険性の指摘もある。またマルクス経済学の立場からは，健康問題や医療問題と医療制度，医療政策，医療産業，経済体制などとのからみ合いを，政治・経済学的に分析していく学問として医療経済学の名称が使われている。

出典　ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典について　情報

<<: Medical social work - medical social work

>>: Medical malpractice - iryoukago (English spelling) malpractice