120 Essential Health Interventions to protect during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 creates unprecedented disruptions in delivery of routine health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and in humanitarian settings. In the paper, Protecting essential health services in low-income and middle-income countries and humanitarian settings while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of international experts, led by the Centre’s director Prof. Karl Blanchet, presents a list of 120 essential health services that should be universally publicly financed during the pandemic.

In health outcomes terms, the poorest countries stand to lose the most from pandemic-related disruptions, and this paper makes a case for prioritising public sector health spending and decision-making both during the pandemic and in the early recovery phase. Based on ethics and equity principles, it is crucial to ensure that patients not infected by COVID-19 continue to get access to healthcare and that the services they need continue to be resourced.

See the BCEPS Policy Brief (October 2020) for a summary of the paper.