After every global emergency, those who extended support to the world's poorest and most vulnerable usually snap back to "business as usual," all but ensuring that the next crisis will be as severe as the last. This time must be different.
CAMBRIDGE – The COVID-19 pandemic will have dangerous, far-reaching implications long into the future, especially if it derails recent improvements in many countries’ historically weak health systems. To avoid that outcome, we urgently need to move beyond merely “protecting the needy” in times of crisis. Episodic donations are not enough. Now is the time to start removing the structural and systemic barriers that have long stood in the way of sustained improvements in global health.
CAMBRIDGE – The COVID-19 pandemic will have dangerous, far-reaching implications long into the future, especially if it derails recent improvements in many countries’ historically weak health systems. To avoid that outcome, we urgently need to move beyond merely “protecting the needy” in times of crisis. Episodic donations are not enough. Now is the time to start removing the structural and systemic barriers that have long stood in the way of sustained improvements in global health.