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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.

This paper investigates both the potential impact of national lockdown measures on COVID-19 transmission, and other health and non-health indicators in South Africa, based on available data. We present findings relating to both “costs” and “benefits” in health terms of the national lockdown side by side. Cumulative and new daily cases were plotted against changes in regulations. Disease transmission during each lockdown level was estimated using effective reproduction rate as a proxy, calculated using the EpiEstim method. The reproduction number was calculated at national and provincial level. To compare township and suburb living environments, the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha was compared with the southern suburbs of the same city. Indirect health effects were assessed by official reports and releases from government departments and institutes. Crime statistics...

Lockdowns and policy actions to curtail the transmission of COVID-19 have widespread health system, economic, and societal impacts. Health systems of low-to-middle-income countries may have fewer buffering resources and capacity against shocks from a pandemic. This paper presents a preliminary review on the collateral health systems impact of COVID-19 in the Philippines through review of academic and grey literature, supplemented by a qualitative survey. Community quarantines alongside transport and boarder restrictions have universally impacted health service access and delivery, affecting patients requiring specialist care the most. Existing record-keeping and surveillance measures were hampered as existing resources were tapped to perform COVID19-related tasks. Local health systems reinforced gatekeeping mechanisms for secondary and tertiary care through referral systems and...

This paper presents an analysis of the indirect health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya. We employed a mixed-methods approach, combining the analysis of secondary quantitative data obtained from the Kenya Health Information System database (from January 2019 to November 2020) and a qualitative inquiry involving key informant interviews and document reviews. Quantitative data were analysed using an interrupted time series analysis (using March 2020 as the intervention period). Thematic analysis approach was employed to analyse qualitative data. Quantitative findings were mixed, with statistically significant reduction in inpatient utilization, and increase in the number of sexual violence cases per OPD visit that could be attributed to COVID-19 and its mitigation measures. Key informants reported that while financing of essential health services and domestic supply...

On 21st March 2020, Uganda reported its first COVID-19 case. The government responded by instituting a lockdown and other measures. We assess the effects of the COVID-19 containment measures on health services to better inform the next preventive measures. We use a case study approach that involved document reviews and secondary analysis of data on attendance of key health services and mortality for the years 2019 and 2020. The services included outpatient department (OPD), antenatal care (ANC), malaria, immunization, TB, and hypertension. Interrupted time series analysis was applied to test the significance of difference between pre-and postintervention. We find that from March to April 2020, attendance to health services reduced and then rose in June or July. Notable reduction was in general OPD (17%), malaria-OPD (7%), ANC (8%), immunization (10%), hypertension (17%), and...

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to large budget gaps of more than $8 trillion worldwide from higher spending requirements and reduced tax revenue. Sooner or later, policy makers must consider revenue sources to close these budget gaps and avoid debt

How do optimal policies to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 vary across countries? In an influential recent paper, Eichenbaum, Rebelo, and Trabandt (2020) incorporate economic behavior into a standard epidemiological model calibrated to the United States

This paper examines the short-term impact of lockdown on SMEs as well as reopening challenges facing SMEs based on recent phone interviews of a previously surveyed large SME sample in China. COVID-19 casted a heavy toll on the SMEs with huge differential

Substantial evidence has emerged relating to the potential magnitude of the indirect health effects of the coronavirus pandemic. We know, from previous crises and outbreaks (e.g., the Ebola outbreak), that indirect health effects are significant and could outweigh the direct toll from the disease itself. This paper provides an overview of the lessons learned from previous outbreaks and economic crises in relation to indirect health effects as well as a framework for adopting a whole of health approach to the COVID response. This framework articulates indirect health impacts around four distinct but interrelated sets of impacts: economic, environmental, health systems, and social/behavioural. We apply this framework to discuss what is known already on the indirect health impacts of COVID-19. Given the rapidly changing nature of the outbreak and the constant publication of new...