Health System Response to COVID-19 and Future Pandemics

被引:16
作者
Narain, Jai Prakash [1 ]
Dawa, Natasha
Bhatia, Rajesh [1 ]
机构
[1] WHO Reg Off South East Asia, Delhi, India
关键词
COVID-19; pandemic; health system response; public health;
D O I
10.1177/0972063420935538
中图分类号
R19 [保健组织与事业(卫生事业管理)];
学科分类号
摘要
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health and economic crisis of a scale never witnessed before. Beginning in China, it has within a few months devastated many countries around the globe, requiring an unprecedented mobilisation of health systems. While the disease caused by this novel virus is generally mild and self-limiting, the risk of severe disease is disproportionately high among elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. In the absence of a vaccine or treatment, the public health strategies include: (a) preventing transmission through early detection and isolation, tracing contacts and quarantining them and implementation of measures such as social distancing and hand hygiene and (b) reducing mortality by augmenting clinical management and shielding the most vulnerable populations in the society. The pandemic is yet another reminder that we need to invest in public health, ramp up national capacities to detect a disease early and respond rapidly to emerging infections, strengthen and respect our national institutions and rely on evidence base for policymaking. It is high time that we paid heed to these lessons and strengthened without any further delay our health system capacity, as epidemics and pandemics of this nature will continue to challenge public health well into the future.
引用
收藏
页码:138 / 145
页数:8
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