Rate My Professor Kara Hanson

Professor Kara Hanson serves as Dean of the Faculty of Public Health and Policy and Professor of Health System Economics in the Department of Global Health and Development at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London. Her academic background includes a BA with Great Distinction in Economics and Political Science from McGill University in 1987, an MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine from the University of Oxford, and a doctorate in health economics from the Harvard School of Public Health. She commenced her professional career as a health planner in the Ministry of Health, Swaziland, and joined LSHTM in 1997, advancing through academic roles including Associate Dean for Research from 2015 onward.

Hanson has devoted over 30 years to the economics of health systems in low- and middle-income countries, with major contributions in health financing, private health sector dynamics, strategic purchasing to enhance performance, and healthcare market regulation. She chaired the Lancet Global Health Commission on Financing Primary Health Care, authoring "The Lancet Global Health Commission on financing primary health care: putting people at the centre" (2022). Other key publications include "Strategic Purchasing: The Neglected Health Financing Function" (2019), "Malaria, medicines and miles: A novel approach to measuring access to treatment from a household perspective" (2019, SSM - Population Health), and "What influences the impact of health financing reforms? Using qualitative comparative analysis to identify patterns in health financing systems and their effects on financial protection" (2025, SSM - Health Systems). Her research addresses hospital sector reforms in Uganda and Zambia with equity implications, private sector roles in public health interventions, and primary health care financing effectiveness. Hanson advises national governments and international organizations, serves as President of the International Health Economics Association (2024-2025), and directs the NIHR Global Health Research Programme. She teaches Economic Analysis for Health Policy and supervises doctoral students on Universal Health Coverage, financial risk protection, public sector reforms, and malaria in pregnancy interventions.