In this 10th webinar, different countries' experiences and lessons of reorganization of health service delivery during the pandemic, the so called "surge capacity", are presented. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and sustain other health services, countries have been required to rapidly increase and reorganize health service delivery capacity, such as the availability of hospital beds, allocation of the health workforce, and so on. Some countries may have already had a legal framework to enable such rapid increase, and others may have to take new approaches. In the webinar, JICA Ogata RI research group member, Dr. Sakamoto, shared a preliminary analysis of an international comparative study, and case studies from Japan, Kenya, Vietnam and Thailand were shared by the other speakers.
The speakers spoke about efforts in their countries to mobilize health care workers and private hospitals, to reduce the medical burden by ensuring infection prevention actions through risk communication and community engagement, to introduce remote medical care, to utilize home-based care, to ensure the necessary legal framework and financial Incentives, and so on, were reported. The challenges faced were also shared, including training for mobilized health care workers, dealing with significant financial burdens in the future, the leadership and management capacity of local government, and the reform of data systems.
With 244 participants from 46 countries and regions around the world, there was a lively discussion on the factors hindering the adaptive reorganization of health service delivery and how to ensure equity in the pandemic. We need to continue the discussion on the experiences and implications from COVID-19 to allow the building of more equitable and resilient UHC within and after the pandemic.
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