Assignment:
This assignment should be written as a policy brief from you, the Secretary of Health, to the Minister of Finance (through your own Minister, of course). As you write the brief, you must put yourself into the role of the Secretary.
The paper should be five pages long, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font. It cannot be longer. The paper should be written in a succinct manner.
The paper needs to be written in a manner that will allow the aide of the Minister of Finance to brief him on the contents of the brief in about 3 minutes in a car on the way to some meeting, since that is what often really happens.
The paper should be written about the assigned low-income country. The paper should answer the following questions:
• What is the nature and magnitude of the problem?
• Who is affected by it?
• What are the risk factors for the problem?
• What are the economic and social consequences of the problem?
• What few priority steps do you recommend be taken to address the problem and what is your rationale for these recommendations?
The briefing note should follow the above outline, with one exception. It should start with a single paragraph that summarizes for the Minister all of the points you want to make. That summary paragraph should be approximately 5-6 sentences in length and be single spaced, reading something like this:
Write the summary and every topic sentence as if it's the only thing that the Minister of Finance is going to read. Your evidence-based story line should include who gets any relevant disease, why they get it, why I should care, and how the problem can be addressed in the fastest and least costly manner. When you make your argument, give information about the relative cost-effectiveness of your proposal and cite supporting evidence.