Amira El-Shal is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Cairo University and a Senior Consultant at the African Development Bank. She was an Economic Consultant at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and an Economic Expert at Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation before joining the African Development Bank in 2018. Amira’s research interests include a broad spectrum of health economics subjects including health policy evaluation and behavioral responses during public health crises. Her recent projects also focus on gender gaps in economic participation in low- and middle-income countries, specifically how gender differences in behavior shape differentials in productivity, innovation, addressing market inefficiencies and institutional barriers, among others. Amira received her B.Sc. in Economics from Cairo University in 2007, obtained her M.Sc. in Economics from University College London in 2010, and completed her Ph.D. in Economics at City, University of London in 2017. She has a number of peer-reviewed publications and serves as a peer reviewer at Social Science & Medicine.
Disease outbreaks like Ebola and Covid-19 have strong detrimental effects on mortality rates for mothers, infants and young children in low and middle-income countries, both immediately and in the longer term. As this column explains, strengthening preparedness for such emergencies has become more urgent as health disasters continue to erode recent improvements in maternal and child health.