COVID-19 response: mitigating negative impacts on other areas of health

‘Vertical’ responses focused primarily on preventing and containing COVID-19 have been implemented in countries around the world with negative consequences for other health services, people’s access to use of them, associated outcomes, especially low-income middle-income (LMICs). ‘Lockdowns’ restrictive measures, especially, complicated service provision access, disrupted key supply chains. Such interventions, alongside more traditional public interact baseline health, system, social economic vulnerabilities LMICs compound impacts. This analysis, based a rapid evidence assessment by Social Science Humanitarian Action Platform mid-2020, highlights drivers these impacts, emphasises additional experienced marginalised groups, provides insight governments, agencies, organisations communities implement proportionate, appropriate, comprehensive socially just that address context disease burdens. In short term, there is an urgent need monitor mitigate impacts pandemic provision, use, including through embedding response within integrated systems approaches. These efforts should also feed into longer-term strategies strengthen systems, expand universal healthcare coverage attend determinants health—commitments, both existing new—which donors international agencies must make be held accountable to. Crucially, affected empowered play central role identifying priorities, allocating resources, designing delivering services.