“When My Information Changes, I Alter My Conclusions.” What Can We Learn From the Failures to Adaptively Respond to the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and the Under Preparedness of Health Systems to Manage COVID-19?

Document Type : Viewpoint

Authors

1 School of Public Health, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

2 Global Health Theme, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

3 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Kinshasa Country Office, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

4 Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium

5 CEPED, Institute for Research on Sustainable Development (IRD), IRD-Université de Paris, Paris, France

6 School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW, Australia

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Introduction

Countries around the world have been hit by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2/coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) pandemic, and have reacted to its spread in very different ways. Some countries (eg, Sweden) have implemented minimalist public health interventions, while others (eg, France, New Zealand) have imposed almost complete population lock-downs and/or other restrictions to freedom of movement and privacy.1 Such extreme interventions have complex impacts and come at a tremendous (mental) health and societal cost, disproportionately affecting the lowest socio-economic strata, and populations in low-and middle-income countries.2-5 However, the patterns of infection and mortality rates are extremely heterogeneous within and across individuals and countries.6,7... (Read more...)

 

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 11, Issue 7
July 2022
Pages 1241-1245

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History

  • Receive Date: 05 October 2020
  • Revise Date: 19 November 2020
  • Accept Date: 21 November 2020
  • First Publish Date: 29 November 2020

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