by Creativeneko
This week, the World Bank’s Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population focused on the importance of universal healthcare for mitigating the health impacts of COVID-19. A new World Bank report found the pandemic threatens to reverse hard-won gains made in global health and human capital over the past decade. Meanwhile, the Exemplars program seeks to unlock the answers to the most pressing healthcare issues around the world. In Nigeria, a longitudinal phone survey shows encouraging results regarding respondents’ knowledge and practice of preventive measures against COVID-19.
Dr. Pate reflects on the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on the work that the World Bank has been doing to promote the implementation of universal healthcare globally, the initiatives they are working on to address both the primary COVID-19 crisis as well as the secondary health crises emerging, particularly in developing countries; and the importance of cooperation and collaboration between all public and private stakeholders at this critical juncture in time.
Pandemic threatens human capital gains of the past decade, new report says | Press Release | Report | Website | South Asia Blog | Egypt Blog
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens hard-won gains in health and education over the past decade, especially in the poorest countries, a new World Bank Group analysis finds. Investments in human capital—the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives—are key to unlocking a child’s potential and to improving economic growth in every country. The index also presents a decade-long view of the evolution of human capital outcomes, finding improvements across all regions. These were largely due to improvements in health, reflected in better child and adult survival rates and reduced stunting. This progress is now at risk due to the global pandemic.
Lessons from Peru: how to save children from stunting and other exemplars in global health | Blog
For generations, the indigenous communities in Peru’s Andes suffered among the highest rates of childhood stunting in the world. But from 2008 to 2017, Peru managed to cut their child stunting rate by more than half. Prior to a joint partnership between the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and other organizations, there was little research on how this was accomplished and how other countries might replicate their success. Now, the Exemplars program facilitates South-South learning as a pathway to accelerating progress in health outcomes.
To monitor the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with support from the World Bank, is conducting a longitudinal phone survey. Overall, it was found that knowledge of preventative measures is almost universal and most respondents report engaging in safe practices. Respondents were largely well-informed about important preventative measures against coronavirus, and even after certain restrictions were lifted, the majority of respondents continued to engage in safe practices to mitigate against infection.
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