THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CALLS FOR THE REFORM OF NATIONAL HEALTHCARE

Despite the constant warnings of a global pandemic from the scientific community, the world was clearly not prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic when it first emerged in 2019. With over four million deaths globally, coronavirus has been catastrophic, has left countries in unprecedented economic situations, and led to financial crises around the world. National health systems need to learn from the mistakes since they cannot afford to make them again.

The COVID-19 disrupted the global health and development community. All organizations and programs fighting infectious diseases, delivering social services, supporting health workers, and protecting livelihoods quickly became the center of the world’s attention. The short and long-term implications of this global pandemic are evident, but attention has shifted to how it will reshape the national healthcare systems.

Increased Investments In Healthcare

According to Simon Dixon Davies, all national governments, global organizations, and social care systems should focus on far-reaching reforms to increase prevention, preparedness, and response to such pandemics. The outcry in many countries about the lack of supplies and equipment to respond to COVID-19 will lead to countries reexamining their supply chains for healthcare-related products. That means implementing the infrastructures to produce medical supplies, pharmaceutical products, and equipment domestically which will be a significant stride towards better national health care.

Many countries have realized that the financial implications of a national pandemic can be huge, and surpassing investments in research and prevention is essential. The pandemic has led to many investments in research, vaccines, therapeutics, and other non-medical methods of preventing the virus.

The pandemic has demonstrated the need for innovation in healthcare. Its scale has shown that significant amounts of resources have been available for vaccine research and innovation in healthcare.

Global Healthcare Governance

The current health crisis has transformed the way we interact with each other and the environment, which is likely to last for the long term. Every country has now discovered its fragility and dependence on the rest of the world in responding to a global pandemic.

The SARS COV-2 pandemic has undoubtedly left many countries with substantial economic losses trying to fight it. Unfortunately, some rich countries will use it as an excuse to cut developmental assistance for healthcare which may reframe global health as a national security exercise. That could mean more inequalities that plague global healthcare, which further concentrates power on the elites.

The pandemic has exposed the importance of global health governance. Some international health structures failed to protect the world from a global pandemic, with some countries resulting in insinuations informed by politics rather than science. That means global healthcare must be improved to protect future generations and enforce preparedness for such pandemics. This is more triggered by the fact that there is no means for tackling the covid 19 pandemic at a national level but from a global level.

Summary

Covid 19 has illustrated the vulnerability of people across borders; hence a more holistic approach to healthcare is critical. The good news is that healthcare boards are adopting innovation and technologies that were on the sidelines of many healthcare systems.