A Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. Folahsayp holds a PhD in Health Economics and Policy from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His research interests focus on the economics of non-communicable diseases and health technology assessment of healthcare interventions and programs. He is particularly interested in the economic implications of medical spending among patients and how this impacts their overall welfare. As part of his research activities over the years, Folashayo has evaluated the burden of out-of-pocket spending on patients with cardiovascular diseases in an urban population in Southwest, Nigeria. Due to the sub-optimal nature of the healthcare financing infrastructure in low-and middle-income countries, access to healthcare services is dependent on the ability to pay. This has implications for access to healthcare services and it affects the financial wellbeing of individuals, especially the poor ones. His previous research has shown that this is the case and further reiterates the need for universal healthcare coverage in Nigeria. He plans to collaborate on a study that estimates the economic burden of heart-related illnesses in Nigeria. Another central component of his research endeavors seeks to assess and understand the economic aspects of tobacco consumption being a modifiable risk factor for major chronic non-communicable health conditions. He adopts theories of consumer behaviour to understand how smokers allocate their resources to consuming welfare enhancing commodities and how tobacco consumption affects the level of consumption of those commodities. Some of the findings which emanated from the study showed that tobacco consumption significantly displaced the consumption of some essential household goods which are critical to the welfare of those households. In addition to this, he is interested in exploring how tobacco users respond to regular increases in the prices of tobacco products. The major aim of this is to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of using price tools for tobacco control efforts in Nigeria.
