The 17th IHEA World Congress on Health Economics takes place at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago from 10–14 July 2027 — pre-congress sessions on 10–11 July, with the main congress running 11–14 July. It is IHEA's first world congress hosted in Latin America.
Held every second year, the IHEA congress is the only truly global forum where health economists convene to debate the latest methodological developments, present new research findings and examine what that research means for health policy and practice. The scientific program spans the full spectrum of health economics fields: health financing and universal health coverage, economic evaluation and HTA, equity and social determinants, health system efficiency and provider payment, demand for and access to care, behavioural health economics, pharmaceutical and vaccine economics, global health financing, econometric and methodological innovation, and the growing role of AI and data science in learning health systems.
Scale. Nearly 1,500 delegates from 73 countries attended the 2025 congress in Bali, with 95 countries represented when counting delegates' countries of origin — one of the most globally diverse gatherings in the association's history. IHEA itself is a not-for-profit community of more than 1,500 health economists across 100+ countries.
Call for abstracts. Submissions open in early September 2026 and close on 10 November 2026. Individual abstracts are limited to 500 words and must cover research that is not yet published. Organized sessions should present an integrated set of at least four presentations, with one or more formal discussants encouraged; proposals need a session description of up to 400 words plus a 500-word abstract for every paper. To protect quality and diversity, each person may present a maximum of two abstracts — two individual abstracts, one individual plus one organized-session presentation, or two organized-session presentations. Submitters classify their work by primary field and sub-field so each abstract reaches the right expert reviewers. Review outcomes are announced in early March 2027.
Other open calls (2026 deadlines). Expressions of interest to join the Scientific Committee review panel (15 Sep 2026), volunteers to pre-review draft abstracts from early-career researchers in low- and middle-income countries (18 Sep 2026), LMIC early-career researchers seeking feedback on draft abstracts (22 Sep 2026), and pre-congress session proposals (18 Dec 2026).
Scientific Committee. Chaired by Prof Karen Grépin (University of Hong Kong) with Co-Chairs Omar Galárraga (Brown University) and Paul Mitchell (University of Bristol), supported by program chairs from Oxford, UCL, Melbourne, Monash, Cape Town, Ghana, Dalhousie, Columbia and more, plus a review panel of several hundred health economists worldwide.
Local Organizing Committee. Fabián Duarte, Alicia Núñez Mondaca, Cynthia Van Lamoen Pinto and Katherinne Acuña Sepúlveda (Universidad de Chile), Pablo Celhay (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), and Guillermo Paraje and María Nieves Valdés (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez).
Registration and membership. Registration opens closer to the congress; IHEA members receive discounted congress rates. Enquiries: ihea@healtheconomics.org.
