Tanzania, April 9 -- Dar es Salaam. Who are these women? Why were they treated that way, and why was I treated differently? What shall we do? These are the questions she asked her lecturer on the topic of health insurance a few weeks after she resumed her classes after she was discharged.

"To answer my questions, he advised me to do some research and advise the policymakers. I had to promise myself that I would do a PhD in health economics and look into how those who cannot be covered by national health insurance can also be protected."

This is an emerging health economist, Alphoncina Kagaigai, who works as an assistant lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

Her interest in health economics dates back t...