What Has COVID-19 Taught Us About Asia’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response?

WHATHASCOVID-19TAUGHTUSABOUTASIA’SHEALTHEMERGENCYPREPAREDNESSANDRESPONSE? MARCH2024 WHATHASCOVID-19TAUGHTUSABOUTASIA’SHEALTHEMERGENCYPREPAREDNESSANDRESPONSE? MARCH2024 ASIANDEVELOPMENTBANK CreativeCommonsAttribution3.0IGOlicense(CCBY3.0IGO) ©2024AsianDevelopmentBank 6ADBAvenue,MandaluyongCity,1550MetroManila,PhilippinesTel+63286324444;Fax+63286362444 www.adb.org Somerightsreserved.Publishedin2024. ISBN978-92-9270-633-3(print);978-92-9270-634-0(PDF);978-92-9270-635-7(ebook) PublicationStockNo.TCS240101-3 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS240101-3 TheviewsexpressedinthispublicationarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsandpoliciesoftheAsianDevelopmentBank(ADB)oritsBoardofGovernorsorthegovernmentstheyrepresent. ADBdoesnotguaranteetheaccuracyofthedataincludedinthispublicationandacceptsnoresponsibilityforanyconsequenceoftheiruse.ThementionofspecificcompaniesorproductsofmanufacturersdoesnotimplythattheyareendorsedorrecommendedbyADBinpreferencetoothersofasimilarnaturethatarenotmentioned. Bymakinganydesignationoforreferencetoaparticularterritoryorgeographicareainthisdocument,ADBdoesnotintendtomakeanyjudgmentsastothelegalorotherstatusofanyterritoryorarea. ThispublicationisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution3.0IGOlicense(CCBY3.0IGO)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/.Byusingthecontentofthispublication,youagreetobeboundbythetermsofthislicense.Forattribution,translations,adaptations,andpermissions,pleasereadtheprovisionsandtermsofuseathttps://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess. ThisCClicensedoesnotapplytonon-ADBcopyrightmaterialsinthispublication.Ifthematerialisattributedtoanothersource,pleasecontactthecopyrightownerorpublisherofthatsourceforpermissiontoreproduceit.ADBcannotbeheldliableforanyclaimsthatariseasaresultofyouruseofthematerial. Pleasecontactpubsmarketing@adb.orgifyouhavequestionsorcommentswithrespecttocontent,orifyouwishtoobtaincopyrightpermissionforyourintendedusethatdoesnotfallwithintheseterms,orforpermissiontousetheADBlogo. CorrigendatoADBpublicationsmaybefoundathttp://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda.Notes: Inthispublication,“$”referstoUnitedStatesdollars. ADBrecognizes“HongKong”asHongKong,China. CoverdesignbyEricksonMercado. CONTENTS Forewordv Acknowledgmentsvi Definitionsvii Abbreviationsviii HIGHLIGHTS:WhathasCOVID-19TaughtUsAboutAsia’sHealthEmergency PreparednessandResponse?ix Section1Introduction1 Section2COVID-19InflictedEnormousCosts2 2.1COVID-19PolicyResponsesImposedSubstantialEconomicCosts2 2.2PandemicWorsensEconomicWell-being5 2.3COVID-19ImposedaHeavyTollonPsychologicalWell-being6 2.4SchoolClosuresHadaDevastatingImpactonLearning8 2.5PolicyTakeaways9 Section3ElementsofHealthSystemPreparedness10 3.1HealthSystemswereUnpreparedforCOVID-1910 3.2HealthSystemEfficiency12 3.3SurgeCapacity14 3.4PrimaryHealthSystem17 3.5MedicalCountermeasures18 3.6HealthSystemFunding23 3.7PolicyTakeaways25 Section4DataLimitationsWeakenedtheEffectivenessofthe COVID-19Response26 4.1DataasaBasisforPolicymaking26 4.2DataDeficienciesamongADBDevelopingMembers27 4.3PolicyTakeaways28 Section5WhatHaveWeLearnedfromthe COVID-19Response?32 5.1EarlyResponses33 5.2Cost-effectivenessofPolicyResponses34 5.3LessonsLearnedfromCOVID-19Response36 5.4PolicyTakeaways39 BackgroundPapersforthisReport41 References43 FOREWORD Thecoronavirusdisease(COVID-19)wasanunprecedentedhealthemergency.Itwasuniqueinhowfastitspread.Itcaughtgovernmentsoffguardandrapidlyoverwhelmedhealthsystems.Governmentsenactedsweepinglockdownsandsocialdistancingmeasures,includingschoolclosuresandwork-from-homearrangements.Mostcontinuedforlongperiodsasscientistsscrambledtolearnmoreaboutthevirus,itscontagion,mutation,andhowtodevelop,test,anddistributevaccines.Theirimpactonsocietywasdramatic.Lifewasdisrupted.Theglobaleconomysuffered.Educationsuffered.Theyallowedgovernmentstobuytimeandforgesupportmeasurestokeeppeopleandfirmsgoing. Oncevaccinesbecamewidelyavailableandmobilityrestrictionswerelifted,thefocusshiftedtorecovery.Itwasalsotimetobeginacknowledgingwhatworkedandwhatdidnot.FouryearsafterCOVID-19wasdeclaredaglobalpandemic,economieslearnedthatsomelockdownmeasuresweretoostringentandinplacetoolong.Itnotonlycreatedimmediateandlingeringeconomichardship,butalsolikelyledtolong-termscarringintermsoflosthumancapital.Someeconomieswereabletoapplymoreeffectivemeasures,minimizingboththeshort-andlong-termeffectsontheircitizens,providingimportantlessons.Thepandemicalsomagnifiedthepre-existinggapsbetweenhigh-andlow-incomeeconomies,aswellasbetweenfamilieswithhighversuslowsocioeconomicstatuswithineconomies.Forexample,accesstovaccinesandothermedicalhelpwashighlyunequalinmanyplaces. LearningfromtheresponsestoCOVID-19iscritical.Whilenoonecanpredictthetypeortimingofthenexthealthemergency,anotherwillundoubtablyoccur.Governmentsneedtoadequatelypreparetheirhealthsystemsandcapacitytorespondtoemergencies.ThisreportmakesrecommendationsonhealthemergencypreparednessbyreviewingthelessonslearnedfromtheCOVID-19pandemicexperience.Ithighlightstheneedforbetterandmorer