Session recordings available hereAccess to health care without hardship and income security in times of sickness are central objectives of social protection systems. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the importance of having a strong social health protection system articulating both access to health services for all and income support for people affected by the disease.
As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, many countries have taken measures to enhance access to affordable health care and close gaps in social health protection. Many such measures could be expanded beyond the crisis, including by:
- enhancing financial protection against health-care expenses and ensuring the universality and continuity of such coverage;
- integrating prevention, testing and treatment measures (including telemedicine) within health-care benefit packages;
- channelling additional fiscal resources into the health system to enhance the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health services for all;
- improving coordination in the health system with a central role for public provision, sometimes complemented by private service providers under public regulation.
Similarly, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed critical gaps in sickness benefit coverage, leaving large numbers of workers, such as self-employed workers and workers in non-standard employment, without paid sick leave. This constitutes a critical challenge for public health and income security, as workers who cannot rely on sickness benefits and/or paid sick leave entitlements may feel forced to report to work while sick or may be reluctant to self-isolate, thereby potentially passing on the virus to colleagues and clients. This is particularly urgent, as it proved to affect many workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis (health workers, cleaners, transport and delivery workers and domestic workers, etc.).
The round table built on country experiences to highlight the key elements that supported effective response by existing systems, and in particular the importance of strong institutions and entitlements embedded in the legal framework. It also provided an opportunity to discuss persisting gaps in social health protection coverage. Drawing some lessons learned from immediate measures countries took to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, the round table aimed at shedding light on ways to progressively build more resilient systems.