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Future of health financing: The expected economic contraction due to COVID-19 in developing economies is sufficient to put considerable pressure on budgetary space for health spending, which in many settings is already constrained.

Coronavirus (COVID-19), first reported in China in December 2019, has spread rapidly around the world. As of April 13, 2021, the cumulative number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 worldwide was more than 136 million and 2.9 million, respectively.1 To prevent the life-threatening consequences of COVID-19, and the potential for medical systems to be overwhelmed as a result of the pandemic, extremely restrictive measures—such as travel bans, city lockdowns, and closures of offices, factories, stores, schools, and other places—have been implemented in many countries. These measures have been effective in suppressing the spread of COVID-19 to a certain extent; however, they have had a significant negative impact on the economy. The output growth of the world in terms of real gross domestic product was −3.3% in 2020, declining from 2.8% in 2019.2 This figure is greater than...

Despite relatively few COVID-19 cases within New South Wales, the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic has prevented a return to business as usual for the delivery of surgical services. This study aims to describe the evolving impact of COVID-19 on surgical activity and patient outcomes at a major public tertiary referral hospital. A retrospective cohort study involving adult surgical patients treated at a large public tertiary referral hospital in Sydney, Australia. Surgical activity, surgical outcomes and patient demographics were compared across two time periods, including the ‘first wave’ (February-May 2020 vs. February-May 2019) and the ‘perseverance phase’ (June-September 2020 vs. June-September 2019). Variables across both groups were compared using an independent t test or chi-squared test. A -32% reduction in surgical separations was observed in the ‘first wave’,...

The paper studies the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on African economies and household welfare using a top-down sequential macro-micro simulation approach. The pandemic is modeled as a supply shock that disrupts economic activities of African countries and then affects households’ consumption behavior, the level of their welfare, and businesses’ investment decisions. The macroeconomic dynamic general equilibrium model is calibrated to account for informality, a key feature of African economies. We find that COVID-19 could diminish employment in the formal and informal sectors and contract consumption of non-savers and, especially, savers. These contractions would lead to an economic recession in Africa and widen both fiscal and current account deficits. Extreme poverty is expected to increase further in Africa, in particular if the welfare of the...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the global economy and stressed the health care systems worldwide. Measuring the burden of disease on health and economy is essential for system preparedness by way of allocation of funds and human resources. Methods: The present study estimates Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years of Potential Productive Life Lost (YPPLL) and Cost of Productivity Lost (CPL) due to premature mortality and absenteeism, secondary to COVID-19 in Kerala state, India. The impact of disease on various age-gender cohorts has been analyzed. Sensitivity Analysis has been conducted by adjusting six variables with a total of 21 scenarios. Results: Severity of infection and mortality were higher among older sub-group of patients, and male were more susceptible than female in most of the age groups. DALY for the baseline scenario was 15,924.24...

Over the last 14 months, Africa and the entire world experienced the worst Socioeconomic challenges of alarming proportion. Specifically, on 30 December 2019, an epidemiological alert was issued by the Chinese Wuhan local health authority of the emergence of a new strand of the coronavirus—severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2)—which causes what has come to be known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVI 19). Africa’s first case of COVID19 was recorded in Egypt on 14 February 2020, followed by Nigeria on 27 February 2020. Early in March 2020, Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Togo and Tunisia reported positive cases. From then, the virus spread to all over Africa as in other parts of the globe

This paper examines the determinants of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa, based on the framework of social determinants of health. Applying Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) and quantile regressions to panel data and country-specific socioeconomic background data from 53 African countries, the study finds that enhancing capacity for early testing helps for timeous uncovering of cases, early isolation and contact tracing for effective control of the spread. Other factors such as managing of international movements through reduction of international exposure and ensuring better sanitation and hygiene were found to be relevant in diminishing COVID-19 spread, whereas alcohol consumption and population density heighten the spread. The work also highlights that stringent measures will be counter-productive unless they are coupled with measures to create...