Were Non-COVID essential health services protected?
The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to health systems across the world. As pressure built on service providers to support COVID-19 patients and orientate services and resources in support of pandemic response efforts, people suffering from other conditions or requiring medical care for other reasons were not always able to receive the care they needed, threatening significant impact on the wider health of the population.
As early studies modelling the impact of service disruption due to COVID-19 painted a gloomy picture, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) invested heavily in maintaining essential non-COVID health services. How successful were these efforts in protecting the delivery of essential health services and what can be learned?
The World Bank has appointed the Nossal Institute of Global Health to conduct a comprehensive review of Indonesia's efforts in protecting and adapting essential non-COVID health services through the core phase of the COVID-19 response.
The research team will be led by Dr. Tiara Marthias, a general practitioner and health systems researcher based in Indonesia, and Ms. Clare Strachan, a public health and pandemic preparedness and response specialist. They will work closely with the Center for Health Policy and Management (CHPM-UGM), Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia.
The study will explore how successful Indonesia has been in curtailing disruption in the provision of essential non-COVID health services. It will explore the various innovations supported, good practices adopted and lessons learned as relating to service delivery at both national and sub-national levels.
The review findings will provide valuable insights that could inform policy decisions not only in Indonesia but across the world.