Markets for Human Resources for Health: At a Time of Epidemiological and Demographic Transition

Professor Ajay Mahal is a Professor of Health Economics at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, and an internationally recognised expert in health economics, health systems, and health financing.

His research focuses on health workforce, ageing, non-communicable diseases, healthcare financing, and economic evaluation, with extensive experience working across Asia, Africa, and other low- and middle-income countries.

Through this talk, participants will have the opportunity to learn from his extensive expertise and gain insights into the economic and policy challenges surrounding human resources for health in an era of epidemiological and demographic transition.

Dr Nithiah Thangiah is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya (UM). She holds a PhD in Public Health (Adolescent Health) and a Master’s in Applied Statistics from UM, and a BSc in Financial Maths from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

Since joining UM, Dr Nithiah has focused on population health research at the Centre for Population Health (CePH), specialising in survey design, data management, and analysis using SPSS, Stata, and JASP. Her research primarily explores adolescent health and CVD risk factors in Malaysia, using cluster analysis to identify key trends.

Dr Nithiah has published and co-authored numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals. She has also served in various administrative roles, including Programme Coordinator and E-Document Manager. She contributes to the academic community as a reviewer for journals and as an internal examiner for postgraduate students. Dr Nithiah received the Excellence Service Award from Universiti Malaya in 2018.