An annual increase of 1.4% of the gross domestic product in investment in health, in relation to spending in 2019, will increase the resilience of the sector in the face of crises such as Covid-19, indicates a study released this Thursday.
The report “Ready for the next crisis? Investing in the resilience of the health system”, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, to which Portugal belongs), analyzes the “lessons” of this pandemic and includes policy recommendations for countries to weather the next crisis.
The pandemic, declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020, constituted “the biggest health crisis” of the last century and showed “three great vulnerabilities” of the system: it was not properly prepared, it lacked personnel and investment.
The OECD advocates that the increase in investment that it recommends to its members be directed to personnel (half of the total), prevention and infrastructure.
“In January 2023, more than 6.8 million deaths from Covid-19 were reported worldwide. Excess mortality analysis suggests that up to 18 million people globally could have died from the pandemic for end of 2021”, underlines the report, which adds that “life expectancy has decreased in many OECD countries in 2020 and 2021”, in addition to having “widespread disturbances in society and education” and GDP having fallen ” 4.7% in 2020 in the economies” linked to the organization.
The study recalls that “pre-existing inequality and chronic diseases worsened the results of the pandemic”, and points out that the fact that health systems spend “less than 3% of total health spending on prevention” leaves “many vulnerable members of the population.
The lack of personnel, in turn, “has limited effective responses to the pandemic and continues to do so.” “Sufficient and well-trained” staff are needed to be “agile in times of crisis, as well as to cope with the backlog of care” and respond to the “substantial increase in mental health needs.”
The number of doctors in Portugal per 1,000 inhabitants in 2019 (or the latest year for which data is available) was slightly above the threshold of 3.54, slightly below the OECD average, while the number of nurses it was slightly below the OECD average. , which did not reach 10, against a threshold of 11.45.
The lack of health professionals in the country – be they doctors, nurses or auxiliaries – had a medium impact on Portugal’s ability to deal with the pandemic, according to the organization.
To increase the supply of professionals during the peaks of the pandemic, Portugal resorted to extending the working day and increasing their workload, as well as relocating them to “towns or establishments with greater needs”, reducing activities not related to Covid-19 and the mobilization of more workers, such as students and pensioners of the sector.
“In response to the pandemic, many countries have increased their investments in personnel, digital infrastructure and equipment, but this effort will have to be sustained” if the goal is to make “the next shock less disruptive and costly,” according to the report. .
Telehealth is considered a “positive transformation”, the study indicating that, “by the beginning of 2021, almost one in two adults had seen their doctor remotely in 22 OECD countries”.
Portugal was one of the countries that used digital consultations, as well as “private providers”, to “increase the volume of non-urgent care” by the National Health Service.
Reducing the impact of future shocks also involves promoting population health, retaining and hiring staff, collecting and using data. In addition to these, the OECD recommends boosting international cooperation, noting that “the unprecedented success and speed of the development of the Covid-19 vaccine saved millions of lives”, as well as the resilience of the supply network (92% of organization countries had difficulties obtaining personal protective equipment, 83% test materials and 68% ventilators) and administration and trust.
Regarding this last recommendation, the report draws attention to the fact that trust in institutions is “necessary for the responses of society as a whole”, noting that disinformation has “the potential to undermine”.
Regarding information and knowledge, the pandemic caused changes in Portugal in terms of “new technologies to improve the availability of health data, accessibility, sharing or privacy (…) and security protections” and the necessary legal reforms .
For the organization, which includes 38 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, which in 2021 represented 60% of global GDP, building the resilience of health systems “has never been more urgent”, taking into account that “the legacy of the pandemic can last for decades”.
In addition, a new pandemic or crisis resulting from antimicrobial resistance, armed conflict and climate change, financial system problems, biological, chemical, cyber, and nuclear threats, and social unrest can pose severe tests.
The limitations derived from aging and demographic changes are other challenges for health systems and “aggravate the impact of the crises.”
The report insists that “smart and targeted investments” in health system resilience will benefit societies by ensuring that “the foundation is laid for the next crisis.”
“Without these investments, the costs and the impact on people will be greater.”
Source: TSF
