PD 25 - Women's Health in the COVID-19 Era

Giving primary prevention a key role is one of the main lessons that can already be drawn from the management of the COVID-19 health crisis. High population acceptance of primary prevention measures and high-quality primary care is essential to keep hospital care systems functional and to save lives. Only collective behavior changes can lead to substantial health impact. In analogy to women cancers and NCD in general, primary prevention such as HPV vaccination and screening programs by innovative testing technologies are known to be effective. However, this will reduce hospital care workload only if collective health behavior changes are achieved and high-quality primary care services are accessible for all.

In the post COVID-19 era, hospital care systems will be overwhelmed because of major backlogs in the management of non-COVID-19 related health conditions. This will be most relevant in low- and middle-income countries. It is the right timing to use the momentum of the COVID-19 crisis for a paradigm change in health systems design where primary prevention and innovative primary health care systems will play a prominent role by building upon experiences from the women health agenda.

The mandate given to national governments by the UN General Assembly to develop stepwise universal health coverage is a great challenge and requires an adaptation of health agendas. The post COVID-19 era is a unique opportunity to increase aid effectiveness by overcoming institutional barriers between the operating health agencies national governments, NGOs, and academia. Innovation in knowledge transfer will enable the development of a global community of healthcare providers who will lead the necessary changes in primary care level and where women health will spearhead health system changes.