Suchergebnisse

In late December 2019, the first case of an emerging coronavirus was identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, in mainland China. The novel virus appears to be highly contagious and is rapidly spreading worldwide, becoming a pandemic. The disease is causing a high toll of deaths. Effective public health responses to a new infectious disease are expected to mitigate and counteract its negative impact on the population. However, time and economic-financial constraints, as well as uncertainty, can jeopardize the answer. The aim of the present paper was to discuss the role of Universal Health Coverage to counteract the economic impact of the COVID-19 infection. Appropriate financing of the health system and ensuring equitable access to health services for all can, indeed, protect individuals against high medical costs, which is one of the most important goals of any health system. Financing profoundly affects the performance of the health system, and any policy that the health system decides to implement or not directly depends on the amount of available funding. Developed countries are injecting new funding to cope with the disease and prevent its further transmission. In addition to psychological support and increased societal engagement for the prevention, control, and treatment of COVID-19, extensive financial support to governments by the community should be considered. Developed and rich countries should support countries that do not have enough financial resources. This disease cannot be controlled and contained without international cooperation. The experience of the COVID-19 should be a lesson for further establishing and achieving universal health coverage in all countries. In addition to promoting equity in health, appropriate infrastructure should be strengthened to address these crises. Governments should make a stronger political commitment to fully implement this crucial set of policies and plans.

In December 2019, the first case of Coronavirus was identified. The novel virus appears to be highly contagious and is rapidly spreading worldwide, becoming a pandemic. The disease is causing a high toll of deaths. Effective public health response to a new infectious disease is expected to mitigate and counteract its negative impact on the population. However, time and economic-financial constraints, as well as uncertainty, can jeopardize the answer. Appropriate financing of the health system and ensuring equitable access to health services for all can protect individuals against high medical costs, which is one of the most important goals of any health system. Financing profoundly affects the performance of the health system, and any policy that the health system decides to implement or not directly depends on the amount of available funding. Various countries are injecting new funding to cope with the disease and prevent it faster. In addition to psychological support and increased social participation for the prevention, control, and treatment of COVID-19, extensive financial support to governments by the community should be considered. Developed and rich countries should support countries that do not have financial viability. This disease cannot be controlled without international cooperation. The experience of the COVID-19 should be a lesson for further developing universal health coverage in all countries. In addition to promoting equity in health, appropriate infrastructure is provided to address these crises. Governments should make a stronger political commitment to implement this crucial policy fully.

Background: In December 2019, a viral outbreak occurred in China, and rapidly spread out worldwide. Due to the lack of immediately available vaccines and effective drugs, many policy- and decision-makers have focused on non-pharmacological methods, including social distancing. This study was aimed at assessing the effects of the implementation of this policy in Iran, one of the countries most affected by COVID-19. We conducted a quasi-experimental study, utilizing the interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) approach. Methods: We collected daily data between February 20, 2020 and January 29, 2021, through governmental websites from 954 public hospitals and healthcare settings. The Iranian government launched the social distancing policy on March 27, 2020. Statistical analyses, including ITSA, were carried out with R software Version 3.6.1 (London, UK). Results: During the study period, 1,398,835 confirmed incidence cases and 57,734 deaths occurred. We found a decrease of -179.93 (95% CI: -380.11 to -20.25, P-value=0.078) confirmed incidence cases following the implementation of the social distancing policy, corresponding to a daily decrease in the trend of -31.17 (95% CI: -46.95 to -15.40, P-value=0.08). Moreover, we found a decrease of -28.28 (95% CI: -43.55 to -13.01, P-value=0.05) deaths, corresponding to a daily decrease in the trend of -4.52 (95% CI: -5.25 to -3.78, P-value=0.003). Conclusion: The growth rate of confirmed incidence cases and deaths from COVID-19 in Iran has decreased from March 27, 2020 to January 29, 2021, after the implementation of social distancing. By implementing this policy in all countries, the burden of COVID-19 may be mitigated.