Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh applauds Member States COVID-19 efforts in the Regional Director’s Annual Report on the Work of WHO in the South-East Asia Region (2020)
Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh said, “covid has taken a massive toll on our health systems. Services have been disrupted and health care workers exhausted. Our challenge is multi-faceted, we have to regain lost ground in terms of health outcomes, rebuild health systems that have lost capacity and we have to do this at a time when government revenues in all countries will be under intense pressure.”
The Annual Report brings focus to both the broader lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for health security and institutional and material self-sufficiency; and, on post-pandemic priorities: government revenues and securing health spending, augmenting the health workforce and the potential of the COVID-19 experience for positive change on equity and efficiency.
In the country-specific section, the highlights for 2020 from Sri-Lanka were: a National Mental Health Policy (2020–2030) approved by the Cabinet; zero deaths from COVID-19 among health workers; strengthening of infection prevention and control strengthened; strengthening laboratory capacity for COVID-19; essential health services maintained throughout the pandemic; contribution to the global research agenda through two COVID-19 serosurveillance surveys based on the WHO UNITY protocols.