A Three-dimensional Evaluation of Multination Health Systems Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Globally, COVID-19 represents a complex problem unlikely to be effectively addressed by a single agency or strategy. We assess the efforts of six select countries, namely India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Brazil and Taiwan, through three dimensions: (a) policy level, (b) systems level and (c) information technology (IT). We used World Bank and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center data in addition to information obtained from secondary sources. The search focused specifically on COVID-19, governance, policy and IT. Since practically no country could anticipate the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was little preparedness as to testing capacity, training of the healthcare workforce, availability of medical equipment, hospital beds, personal protective equipment (PPEs), masks and so on. This caused confusion and mistrust about the leadership and health systems’ capacity to manage the pandemic. Our analysis revealed that the majority of these countries tried the best global strategies to mitigate the pandemic, such as nationwide lockdown, restriction on international travel, border control, surveillance, mandatory quarantine and so on. Taiwan and the Maldives effectively used IT, social media, websites and surveillance as important tools. We make governance and system-level suggestions to strengthen health system capacity, governance framework, model for pandemic management and synergy for innovation for recovery from COVID-19.