Episode 5- Interview with Siyabonga Ndwandwe

In this episode we talked with Siyabonga Ndwandwe, a computational health economist from Eswatini currently based in London about his to journey to working in Public health and what it has been like for him. In the episode we discussed: What is computational health economics and what that entails His background and motivation to study health economics and work in public health Using an economic framework, economics principles and tools, to understand health care system and answer and solve health related problems What type of health data is there, the different sources, who collects it and why? Privacy , security and the need for regulation of using health data in the world of Big Data Stakeholders in public health and how they are involved in the work The kinds of questions being answered in the field of health economics and in Siya’s work What a typical day, or typical week looks like in his current role Highlights of different roles and projects that Siya has done in the different roles and countries he has worked in What public health means to Siyabonga and how he defines it The Public Health Elephant! What he likes about Health Systems Research Siya’s favorite things about working in public health A little bit of ethics and philosophy of economics in health systems using COVID as an example Challenges that come with working with data depending on the context The difference between learning how to work and learning the work Word to the wise