The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerabilities in health systems can have profound implications for health, economic progress, trust in governments, and social cohesion.
Containing and mitigating the spread and infection rate of the virus continue to be essential. But so is strengthening the capacity of health systems to respond swiftly and effectively. This includes administering COVID-19 vaccines. After lightning speed development and testing, vaccine campaigns are rolling out in many countries. But questions about production, delivery and equitable access remain, not least for low and middle-income countries.
This page features the latest OECD work on the impact of COVID-19 on health and health systems, along with OECD recommendations and policy advice on how to boost health systems’ resiliency. It also features a curated collection of earlier OECD health content.
Every hour in Africa, an estimated 115 people die from diseases related to improper hygiene, poor sanitation or contaminated water. The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a magnifying glass on pressing water and sanitation challenges in African cities, stressing and widening inequalities, especially for the 56% of the urban population living in informal settlements, lacking basic handwashing facilities, and relying on public water points and shared toilets.
International co-operation & vaccines (24/11/2020)
Communicating on public health & vaccines in a climate of disinformation (19/11/2020)
The devastating impacts of COVID-19 on developing countries have tested the limits, ingenuity and flexibility of development co-operation while also uncovering best practices.
This 58th edition of the Development Co-operation Report draws out early insights from leaders, OECD members, experts and civil society on the implications of coronavirus (COVID-19) for global solidarity and international co-operation for development in 2021 and beyond.
This new series brings together data, analysis and recommendations on a range of topics related to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on health, healthcare systems and workers.
2020 was a good year for trade in pharmaceuticals and other medical products related to the pandemic. Facemasks trade surged in 2020 with imports by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom increasing by 321%, 1064% and 1122%, respectively.
More generally, Korea’s exports of pharmaceutical products boomed, up 81.3%, with exports of COVID-diagnostic kits skyrocketing. While Germany and Switzerland, the world’s top 2 exporters of pharmaceutical products, saw more modest increases, China’s exports of medical devices increased by 40.5% in 2020.
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Discover other original data visualisations related to the COVID-19 crisis in Data Insights
This inventory pulls together OECD analysis and data on healthcare systems and workers. It covers topics both directly and indirectly related to many of the issues arising in the context of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, from the resilience of health systems to the public health threats caused by pandemics or fake pharmaceuticals,