TY - JOUR
T1 - Early health system responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mediterranean countries: A tale of successes and challenges
AU - Waitzberg, Ruth
AU - Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina
AU - Bernal-Delgado, Enrique
AU - Estupiñán-Romero, Francisco
AU - Angulo-Pueyo, Ester
AU - Theodorou, Mamas
AU - Kantaris, Marios
AU - Charalambous, Chrystala
AU - Gabriel, Elena
AU - Economou, Charalampos
AU - Kaitelidou, Daphne
AU - Konstantakopoulou, Olympia
AU - Vildiridi, Lilian Venetia
AU - Meshulam, Amit
AU - De Belvis, Antonio
AU - Morsella, Alisha
AU - Bezzina, Alexia
AU - Vincenti, Karen
AU - Figueiredo Augusto, Gonçalo
AU - Fronteira, Inês
AU - Simões, Jorge
AU - Karanikolos, Marina
AU - Williams, Gemma
AU - Maresso, Anna
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - This paper conducts a comparative review of the (curative) health systems' response taken by Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these Mediterranean countries shared similarities in terms of health system resources, which were low compared to the EU/OECD average. We distill key policy insights regarding the governance tools adopted to manage the pandemic, the means to secure sufficient physical infrastructure and workforce capacity and some financing and coverage aspects. We performed a qualitative analysis of the evidence reported to the 'Health System Response Monitor' platform of the European Observatory by country experts. We found that governance in the early stages of the pandemic was undertaken centrally in all the Mediterranean countries, even in Italy and Spain where regional authorities usually have autonomy over health matters. Stretched public resources prompted countries to deploy "flexible" intensive care unit capacity and health workforce resources as agile solutions. The private sector was also utilized to expand resources and health workforce capacity, through special public-private partnerships. Countries ensured universal coverage for COVID-19-related services, even for groups not usually entitled to free publicly financed health care, such as undocumented migrants.
AB - This paper conducts a comparative review of the (curative) health systems' response taken by Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these Mediterranean countries shared similarities in terms of health system resources, which were low compared to the EU/OECD average. We distill key policy insights regarding the governance tools adopted to manage the pandemic, the means to secure sufficient physical infrastructure and workforce capacity and some financing and coverage aspects. We performed a qualitative analysis of the evidence reported to the 'Health System Response Monitor' platform of the European Observatory by country experts. We found that governance in the early stages of the pandemic was undertaken centrally in all the Mediterranean countries, even in Italy and Spain where regional authorities usually have autonomy over health matters. Stretched public resources prompted countries to deploy "flexible" intensive care unit capacity and health workforce resources as agile solutions. The private sector was also utilized to expand resources and health workforce capacity, through special public-private partnerships. Countries ensured universal coverage for COVID-19-related services, even for groups not usually entitled to free publicly financed health care, such as undocumented migrants.
KW - COVID-19
KW - health system responses
KW - governance
KW - Mediterranean countries
KW - COVID-19
KW - health system responses
KW - governance
KW - Mediterranean countries
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/234119
U2 - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.10.007
DO - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.10.007
M3 - Article
SN - 0168-8510
VL - 126
SP - 465
EP - 475
JO - Health Policy
JF - Health Policy
ER -