The importance of investing in a public health system: evidence from COVID-19 mortality

Balakrishnan, Pulapre; Namboodhiry, Sreenath K.

doi:10.1007/s41775-021-00116-7

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The insignificant impact of these aspects questions the importance of preexisting NHP that aims to provide easy and cheap access to better healthcare services (Gauttam et al, 2021). The poor health structure in India (Balakrishnan and Namboodhiry, 2021) impedes social security and health and human rights measures to effectively protect the laborers during the pandemic.…”

Section: Baseline Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, 2021). The poor health structure in India (Balakrishnan and Namboodhiry, 2021) impedes social security and health and human rights measures to effectively protect the laborers during the pandemic.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This information is collected from National Family Health Survey-4, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (2015–16). The mortality due to Covid-19 varies across the Indian states, depending on the public health infrastructure (Balakrishnan and Namboodhiry, 2021). So, we control the healthcare infrastructure in the state.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do comprehensive labor measures reduce the severity of the pandemic? Evidence from India

Kujur

Goswami

2022

IJSE

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PurposeAs a developing country, India initiated several labor measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. This study analyzes the impact of the Covid-19-induced comprehensive labor measures by Indian states on the Case Fatality Ratios and Recovery Rates. Such an analysis will provide deeper insights into the importance of labor measures during a health emergency. It will also be a reality check to the existing National Health Policy.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines the four major aspects of labor measures on migration, social security, state-specific needs and health and human rights. The authors use these to formulate a composite labor measure index to comprehend the Covid-19-induced various labor measures. Additionally, the authors apply pooled ordinary least squares and panel random-effects models with the state-wise monthly data to examine the impact of Covid-19-induced labor measures on the severity of the pandemic.FindingsCovid-19-induced comprehensive labor measures reduce fatalities and increase recovery rates. In particular, the measures on labor migration, state-specific needs and health and human rights adopted by the Indian states successfully reduce the Covid-19 fatalities and improve the recovery rates. However, the measures taken to address social security have been ineffective in reducing the severity of the pandemic. The study results are robust to various other specifications.Research limitations/implicationsThe time period covered in this research is very brief and does not account for the qualitative impact of labor measures on the severity of the pandemic. This study specifically addresses the number of Covid-19-induced labor measures and not the resources allocated to their implementations or the number of people who benefited from the measures.Practical implicationsThis study emphasizes the need for subnational comprehensive labor measures to reduce the severity of the pandemic in developing countries. The study confirms the need for effective Covid-19-induced social security measures to cope with the pandemic in India. This study also ascertains the beneficial impact of the measures on migration, state-specific needs and health and human rights.Originality/valueThe authors make a composite labor measure index that captures state-level Covid-19-induced labor measures on diverse aspects, namely migration, social security, state-specific need and health and human rights, hitherto unexplored. In addition, the authors analyze the impact of these labor measures on the severity of the pandemic.

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Section: Baseline Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do comprehensive labor measures reduce the severity of the pandemic? Evidence from India

Kujur

Goswami

2022

IJSE

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“…The choice of health outcomes is crucial amid concerns of underreporting of COVID‐19 cases and deaths in India. In this article, we rely on COVID‐19‐related fatality to capture the severity of the pandemic (similar to Balakrishnan & Namboodhiry, 2021; Upadhyay & Shukla, 2021). We believe that the possibility of under‐reporting is potentially higher for cases compared to deaths due to the following reasons.…”

Section: India's Covid‐19 Experience–the Role Of Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of testing and social distancing measures on COVID‐19 deaths in India: Role of pre‐existing socio‐economic factors

Jain

Chatterjee

2022

Journal of Public Affairs

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We examine the effect of testing and social distancing measures on the severity of COVID19 across Indian states during the 68th day nationwide lockdown period. We also explore whether pre‐existing socio‐economic factors such as quality of health care and the ability to practice social distancing influences the effect of these policy measures across states. Using daily level data between April 1 and May 31 for 18 of the major states, we find that both testing and social distancing have a negative effect on COVID‐19 fatalities in India. Further, testing is more helpful in reducing CFR for states with lower per capita health expenditure and weaker medical infrastructure. This highlights how ramping up testing can aid states that have a weak health care system through the detection of infection, contact tracing and isolation. In contrast, social distancing measures are more effective in states that are less populous and have lesser people dwelling in single‐room houses. Our results confirm the role of pre‐existing institutional factors in shaping the effect of policy actions on health outcomes.

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“…Though healthcare is delivered and managed locally [ 1 ], it is still a part of public health. Public health investments are becoming a more likely predictor of health outcomes as they determine how many resources and services are available [ 2 ]. Thus, comparing different healthcare investments of different countries will help us determine which country tops the healthcare benefit chart, having fewer out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPs) and more government funds to improve health [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Public Health Investments of Various Countries Amid a Need for Greater Transparency: A Narrative Review

Hasan¹,

Rannaware²,

Choudhari³

2022

Cureus

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A robust health system demands investments in public health and healthcare as they aid in closing the health protection gap. They are primarily responsible for longer life expectancies, disease prevention, and protection. Loopholes in the public health system were formed due to a lack of transparency and have only worsened throughout COVID-19. Spending more on public health is associated with fewer deaths, fewer food-borne illnesses, better sanitation, food safety, clean air and water, increased immunizations to stave against infectious diseases, and a decline in low birth weight. A comprehensive literature and data search was conducted using web-based search engines like PubMed, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Google Scholar, Science Direct, and the New England Journal of Medicine. The review study standpoints healthcare spending, out-of-pocket expenditures, and other monetary use in various low-tohigh-income countries, and the results are graphically represented. Countries with a strong public health system provide all the necessary aid to protect their citizens. They have cost-effective, readily available resources with fewer out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPs), government schemes, and health insurance to help their people. During our research, it was found how little the Indian government spends on healthcare as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) as compared to 'thought-to-be' poor countries like Bhutan.

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The importance of investing in a public health system: evidence from COVID-19 mortality

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

Do comprehensive labor measures reduce the severity of the pandemic? Evidence from India

Do comprehensive labor measures reduce the severity of the pandemic? Evidence from India

Effect of testing and social distancing measures on COVID‐19 deaths in India: Role of pre‐existing socio‐economic factors

Comparison of Public Health Investments of Various Countries Amid a Need for Greater Transparency: A Narrative Review

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