The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant public health, social and economic impacts. During the pandemic, countries implemented public health and social measures (PHSM), formerly called nonpharmaceutical interventions, at an unprecedented scale to reduce the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While PHSM contributed to reducing transmission, they were societally disruptive and had unintended negative consequences on the livelihoods and well-being of individuals, as well as on societies and economies.
To reduce the socioeconomic impacts on people, several countries expanded existing social protection policies or implemented new interventions to protect livelihoods. Social protection measures aim to diminish and prevent poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion across all stages of life and thereby fulfil a basic human right to social security.
Review of the role of social protection in reducing the burden of public health and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO), in technical collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), has published a new evidence review illustrating what social protection policies and programmes were expanded or introduced to address the health and socioeconomic consequences of PHSM implemented during the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The scoping review provides an inventory of the available literature on the social protection measures that were in place, scaled or initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, analysing 316 studies covering 1079 social protection policies and programs from 123 countries. The following are the main findings of the review:
- social protection measures have positive effects on people's health, well-being and socioeconomic situation and can mitigate the unintended negative consequences of PHSM during health emergencies;
- adaptable health and social systems enable a quick scale-up of social protection measures, including a broadening of coverage and increase of benefits in response to the evolving needs of the situation; and
- health and social systems that are strong prior to emergencies are more resilient to crises.
The review advocates for stronger multisectoral collaboration between the health and social sectors to make emergency responses more equitable and balanced.
Launch of the review at universal health coverage and universal social protection workshop
The evidence review was launched in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12 December 2024 during the ILO-WHO interagency workshop titled "Universal health coverage and universal social protection: a joint agenda to improve health equity and well-being in the informal economy".
Salla Atkins, co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Health in All Policies and the Social Determinants of Health and Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tampere University, Finland, presented the findings of the review. This was followed by a round table discussion with Maria Van Kerkhove, Director a.i., WHO Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Department; Sudhvir Singh, Unit head Equity and Health, WHO Social Determinants of Health Department; and Shahra Razavi, Director, ILO Social Protection Department. The panel highlighted:
- why strong health and social systems make societies more resilient to emergencies;
- what policymakers can do to make social protection measures fit for emergencies;
- how people living in vulnerable conditions can be better protected from a health and socio-economic burden during large-scale emergencies; and
- what WHO and ILO are doing to support countries in this multisectoral effort.
Next steps
The evidence from the review will be (i) complemented with insights from experts working in the health and social sectors to be gathered at upcoming technical consultations, (ii) integrated into global PHSM evidence-based guidance and (iii) inform the development of country support tools for equitable and risk based PHSM decisions and implementation.
