UNDP stresses more investment in health to minimise impact of COVID-19

Kathmandu, Apr 29

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said that the governments in the Asia and the Pacific Regions must dramatically overhaul policies and invest in public health, economic stimulus and social safety nets to help countries recover faster from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report 'Position Note on the Social and Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific' warns that a patchwork of pre-existing solutions won’t work and points out that governments must coordinate with each other to hasten the recovery.

This is a global crisis and working in silos is not an option, it said.  

It calls for policies and actions that immediately strengthen health systems, to save lives and prevent the spread of the virus and advocates for the rapid expansion of social protection measures, to sustain incomes, especially for the most affected and vulnerable. 

Governments will need huge resources to bolster public health, for the economic stimulus, and for social safety nets, which will place an enormous strain on budgets.

To meet that challenge, the report asks governments to revise priorities reflected in budget revenue, spending and financing. Budget revisions may be painful but are necessary, to meet this emergency and to contain fiscal deficits and surges in public debt, at manageable levels.

A key step is to collaboratively resolve the long-standing issue of so-called ‘fiscal termites’ that undermine national budgets: tax competition, tax evasion via transfer pricing and tax havens, large fossil fuel subsidies, and finding ways to tax the digital economy. 

Further steps include restarting trade in goods, even as borders are closed for people – starting from essential goods such as medical supplies and food; and effectively coordinating the movement of stranded migrants and refugees.

The report calls on countries in the region to avoid returning to the pre-pandemic environmentally unsustainable development path, and to capitalize on the opportunity to build a better future. 

 “While we must focus on the immediate needs of a health crisis, the accompanying economic and social crises also need urgent attention. These feed on pre-pandemic vulnerabilities that will be a fire hard to contain, if not addressed together,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. “Bold proposals in this report address the multiple shocks together, by proposing a different set of choices today to build a different tomorrow.” 

“As the Government of Nepal and many other development practitioners have started to analyse the impact of the pandemic on the lives of people in Nepal, we hope this report will bring some of the early observations from the region. We hope this will be useful and inform Nepal’s ongoing assessments,” said Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, UNDP Resident Representative in Nepal.  

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 April 2020.