The Economist Intelligence Unit has been working on a project—supported by Sanofi—to explore how different countries have responded to the covid-19 crisis. A key aim of the project is to identify the factors that have contributed to positive outcomes and how these can assist countries to strengthen, co-ordinate and refine any future pandemic responses. We have seen the importance of learning lessons from the experiences of previous infectious disease outbreaks including the 2009 HIN1 influenza pandemic and the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. There remain vast opportunities for the global community to further learn from experiences with covid-19 as the pandemic continues to evolve globally and the unknown impact that new variants may have in future. The imperative for learning lessons is further strengthened as most experts debate when, rather than whether, a new pandemic will emerge.
The purpose of this project is to examine and identify possible success factors in the response to covid-19 across a range of countries so that valuable knowledge can be shared for future pandemics. Although all countries may have failures and gaps in the pandemic management, there are certainly well implemented policies that we should look at. Whilst there is a lot we can learn from what has not gone well, we must not overlook these positive outcomes, which provide compelling and useful lessons for future pandemics.
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Government factors – such as the ability to adapt existing policies and plans to the dynamics of the current outbreak, and transparent, clear and timely communication
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Health system factors – such as the ability to reconfigure and /or capitalise on existing infrastructure and facilities, and the ability to implement new facilities
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Cultural factors – such as trust in politicians/government and aligning pandemic countermeasures with existing social constructs and norms
This involved researching the underlying policies enacted in the response phase to this pandemic in five countries: Denmark, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. The rationale for choosing these countries was based on selecting a range of countries that had different approaches to handling the virus, with widely applicable findings. The covid-19 response within these countries was analysed to identify good practice to inform the development of the evidence-based policy takeaways. The effectiveness of overall country responses or of individual responses was not measured.
On Friday 25th June the EIU convened a diverse Advisory Panel of international experts, all involved in the response to covid-19 and in previous infectious disease outbreaks, covering academics, government policy makers, policy advisors, citizen representatives and the World Health Organisation. The role of the Advisory Panel was to provide feedback on the research to date, contribute to the further development of the evidence-based policy takeaways and suggest additional countries that the research can look at. Due to timezone limitations, we also conducted one-to-one interviews with several experts based in the Asia-Pacific region.
The white paper that will be the centrepiece of this project will reflect on the lessons learned from the covid-19 response in the selected countries and present the evidence-based policy takeaways. It will provide a timely contribution to the reflective discussions that are taking place globally, combining evidence-based insights and the perspectives of experts who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience.
The evidence-based policy takeaways will provide a clear and actionable set of factors that have contributed positively to the pandemic response in a range of countries, enabling global and national communities of practice and governments to implement these learnings into future pandemic responses.
We would like to thank our Advisory Panel Members for their time and input so far and in the future.
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Prof Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health; Co-Director, He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme; Director, Health Environment Infection Research Unit (HEIRU), New Zealand
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Prof Chien-Jen Chen, Former Vice President of Taiwan, Professor, Graduate Institute of Epidemiology, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taipei
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Dr Catherine Duggan, CEO, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
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Dr Amgad Elkholy, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, World Health Organization (WHO)
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Prof Olga Jonas, Research Associate, Pandemic Risk and Security Monitoring Project, Harvard
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Prof Jeffrey Lazarus, Associate Researcher, ISGlobal, Associate Professor, University of Barcelona. Member of the Lancet Commission on Covid-19.
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Dr Miguel O'Ryan, Director of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Chile, member of the Chilean Ministry of Health covid-19 advisory committee.
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Prof Yik Ying Teo, Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore
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Mr Mariano Votta, Director, Active Citizenship Network
