COVID-19 has shed light on the severe impact that chronic under-investment in health has on societies and economies at large; it has made abundantly clear that health and the economy, development and stability, are integrated and inter-dependent.

The pandemic has set back not only progress toward SDG3 but also jeopardized progress across the 2030 Agenda – notably SDGs 1, 2, (5), 8, and 10.

For the first time in 20 years, poverty is likely to significantly increase. The total COVID-19-induced new poor in 2020 is estimated between 119 and 124 million, according to the World Bank.

Health and Well-being
COVID-19 has dramatically exposed existing vulnerabilities in our health systems—in high- , middle- and low-income countries alike—ranging from reliance on employment-based health insurance and social protection schemes and burdensome medical fees during a time when the economy is constricting and many people are facing financial insecurity, to the limited capacity of health systems to adapt and respond efficiently to a surge of new patients, while maintaining continuity of care. It has highlighted resource gaps such as shortages in the health workforce and medical equipment and supplies, and inadequate investments in infrastructure.

The failure to fully sustain essential health services increase the burden of morbidity and mortality from preventable health threats. This includes communicable and non-communicable diseases, women’s and newborns’ health and survival, routine immunization and others, especially in low- and middle-income countries and in fragile settings . COVID-19 and measures to address it have exacerbated women’s exposure to such violence.

Employment
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the blow to labour markets will strongly affect the socioeconomic capacities of vulnerable subpopulations and influence their purchasing power during and beyond the pandemic. It will also further reduce their opportunities to access adequate living conditions (decent housing, healthy environments, access to water and sanitation, safe energy supply, access to food, etc) and influence health.

Investing in health workers for resilient health systems and enhanced preparedness, is also as a critical requirement of the COVID-19 response and economic recovery efforts - at the time when some economies begin the process of reopening and relaxing their lockdown measures, while mitigation the spread and transmission of new infections.

It is essential to start thinking now of health-equity-supporting economic stimulus plans. While it may be some months from when stimulus plans to aid the economy to recover and decrease unemployment are fully activated, it is necessary to start now to think through the role of the health sector and health equity in all policies in these plans. Jobs can be provided through socioeconomic multiplier investments such as strengthening the health workforce, reinforcing outbreak preparedness through the One Health approach, making more robust and resilient health systems and scaling up action on determinants in disadvantaged communities.

Food security and nutrition
The Covid-19 crisis has shone a spotlight on food and health like no other crisis has done in living memory – it has revealed the fragility of our health and food systems. It illustrates how the health of ecosystems and animals can have a direct bearing on human health and well-being. Driven by unsustainable food systems, the large-scale conversion of forests for agriculture, is increasing interactions between wildlife, livestock, and humans and the emergences of zoonotic diseases, such as Covid-19.

The economic and social disruption that has been caused by the pandemic is an unprecedented challenge to public health and food systems, and has already had a devastating effect for millions of people now falling into extreme poverty. It has impacted on health in many interdependent ways – access to health services, food security, occupational health, food safety, mental health, and access to essential health services. Certain vulnerable groups have been disproportionately affected - migrant and seasonal agricultural workers are particularly vulnerable because they face risks to their transport and working and living conditions, often struggle to access basic personal protective equipment, and struggle to access any basic medical care. Informal economy workers (such as street food and market vendors) are also vulnerable because the majority lack social protection (income safety nets, social welfare schemes etc.), any means of an income and lack access to quality health care. People who already suffer because of health inequities – including the poor, women, and children, those living in fragile or conflict-affected states, ethnic minorities, and indigenous groups – are impacted by both the virus and the containment measures governments have implemented.

A robust and diverse food supply is an essential part of the health and nutrition response to COVID-19. WHO, together with partners, is providing nutrition and food safety guidance and advice during the COVID-19 pandemic for governments, food businesses, health workers and the general public, to maintain good health and prevent malnutrition in all its forms.

Climate Change
Despite the human suffering caused by COVID-19, the changes are causing many to reconsider what is most important in our societies, and our relationship with the planet. Decisions made in the coming months can either “lock in” economic development patterns that will do permanent and escalating damage to the ecological systems that sustain all human health or, if wisely taken, can promote a healthier, fairer, and greener world.

Global economic investments have the potential to shape the future of humanity in the coming decades. They shape the way we work, consume, we move and we built our resilience systems. Nowhere is this more important than in their effects on environmental degradation and pollution, and particularly on the carbon emissions that are driving global warming and the climate crisis.