Jayati GhoshandMariana Mazzucato

Opinion | Three lessons from countries that performed best in tackling Covid-19 challenges

Key factors in countries’ success during the pandemic are long-term investment in public health systems, mission-driven leadership and fiscal space

Bailouts for poorer countries too often come with austerity requirements, lowering their resilience against health and climate crises and making recovery even harder

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Women wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus sit in a flower garden at a park in Goyang, South Korea, on April 28. Photo: AP

Jayati GhoshandMariana Mazzucato

Published: 12:30am, 25 May 2022Updated: 1:21am, 25 May 2022

Among Covid-19’s most important governance lessons, we have learned that trying to battle a pandemic without long-term investment in public health systems and responsive leadership is like attempting to put out a forest fire with a garden hosepipe.

When the pandemic hit, governments had to rapidly implement test and trace systems, deliver personal protective equipment to frontline workers, and make sure that vaccines were developed and put into the arms of the population.

They had to manage the effects of lockdowns and closures on people’s livelihoods, relationships and well-being. They also had to battle misinformation and create new platforms for community outreach.

Yet in so many countries, budgets and leadership capabilities were found wanting. As a result, the world has seen 6.2 million deaths due to Covid-19.

Looking back, it’s clear that the countries which performed best – in terms of containing outbreaks, limiting mortality and hospitalisation rates and minimising social and economic disruption – shared several key characteristics.

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The first is long-term investment in public health systems. Consider South Korea: despite having one of the largest initial outbreaks of Covid 19 outside China, it quickly managed to contain the virus. Since the 1950s, South Korea has invested in a strong healthcare system focused on universal coverage, equitable access and cost-effectiveness.