SURYA.CO.ID | SURABAYA – Having a family member requires special expenses for health, inspiring the Best Graduate of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Airlangga , Afanin Husna, to complete his studies.
"My father had a stroke, and my younger sibling has special needs. So, my mother is the only one at home working, while expenses remain constant and increase for my father's and younger sibling's medical expenses. That's what inspires me," said the man with a commendable Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.88.
He also searched for literature related to health economics and found a topic that suited what was happening in my family.
Although it wasn't easy, he decided to choose a multidisciplinary thesis topic: Analysis of the Determinants of Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) in Indonesia.
“According to health economics, CHE is a condition where health expenditure exceeds a threshold of total household expenditure,” he said.
He added that households in this condition often have to go into debt, sell assets, and many other things.
"Writing this thesis was a struggle because it's a multidisciplinary topic that's rarely discussed, so I had to diligently search for literature," said the student from Surabaya.
He began by reading the theses of his seniors in the same department. Despite the limited data, he decided to pursue the topic, especially since the topic of health economics was also booming, especially during the current pandemic.
"I also discussed this topic with my colleagues in the public health faculty. Data collection also presents challenges. I'm conducting research at the household level, so I have to use microdata, which is more complex to process than macrodata," he explained.
Afanin's hard work finally paid off, he even continued his thesis topic for his thesis in the fast track program he took.
This article was published on surya.co.id with the title Afanin Husna, Best Graduate of FEB Unair's Undergraduate Program: My Family's Conditions Inspire Me, https://surabaya.tribunnews.com/2020/12/06/afanin-husna-wisudawan-terbaik-s1-feb-unair-syarat-keluarga-jadi-inspirasi-saya .
Author: Sulvi Sofiana
Editor: Parmin