Department of Social Policy and Social Security Studies
Health researcher Dr Albert Frimpong visits Department of Social Policy and Social Security Studies
Dr Albert Opoku Frimpong is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Social Policy and Social Security at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, hosted by Professor Simona Helmsmüller. The visiting scholar's research stay in Germany is being funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Following a two-month language course in Cologne, Dr Frimpong has been a guest at Faculty 06 since the beginning of November and will support research in the field of healthcare financing there for a year. His current research focus is on efforts to achieve universal health coverage in sub-Saharan Africa. Rising but relatively low health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly raising the question of what is being or can be achieved with the resources allocated to the health sector to improve health outcomes. In this context, Dr Frimpong's current research focuses on the efficiency of health spending and the impact on the Sustainable Development Goals, namely the provision of necessary health services and financial sustainability. As a result, the department is cooperating with Professor Helmsmüller's research project in Pakistan, which is investigating social health insurance. During Dr Frimpong's research stay, comparative studies on this topic are therefore being sought.
The postdoctoral researcher will mainly use quantitative research methods and simulation modelling. Dr Frimpong is also involved in the Master's degree programme in Social Protection, where he teaches statistics, in order to familiarise young researchers with these methods.
Albert Opoku Frimpong received his doctorate in economics from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He was (re)appointed as a lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana, in 2021, where he had been an assistant lecturer since 2016. Dr Frimpong is a member of the African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA) and recently became a member of the German Society for Health Economics.
The Master's degree programme in Social Protection has been very popular in Ghana since its inception, with the majority of applicants coming from this country. For the 2024/2025 academic year, the department received 66 out of a total of 220 applications from Ghana. In summer 2024, the department organised a DAAD-funded alumni seminar at the University of Cape Coast, which was selected as a strategic partner via the International Office's TOFI project. The seminar brought together 22 alumni to discuss the challenges and solutions for successfully integrating people with disabilities into the social system.
Kontakt
Simona Helmsmüller
Professor for 'Economics of Social Protection', Director of the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE), Academic Head MSc Social Protection
Research fields
Location
Sankt Augustin
Room
F 208
Address
Grantham-Allee 2-8
53757 Sankt Augustin
Telephone
+49 2241 865 9875