2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

consumers immediately, the costs eventually get passed onto households “sickness funds”

which could likely increase due to the scarcity of resources in the health system during this

pandemic. It should also be noted that there could be a decrease in the number of

mammograms due to the reluctancy of going into hospitals in the middle of an international

health crisis. The welfare loss, demonstrated by the triangle ABC, showcases the loss of

allocative efficiency within the economy (Jocelyn Blink, 2020). As a result, the economy is

not achieving its optimum level of output. The consumer surplus in the free market, is

represented by triangle FAD whilst the producer surplus by FAE. The shift in supply of

mammograms from S 1 to S 2 therefore increases the producer surplus and decreases the

consumer surplus because of the increase in price from P e to P 1 .

This diagram is also representative of the Market for Mammograms in Belgium. However,

due to the immense similarity between the health care models and method of breast cancer

screening management during the pandemic, there is no need to create a second diagram

highlighting the same degree of change in the Mammogram market in Belgium.

Figure 4

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