RESUMO
Health systems play a critical role in providing services that aim to improve, promote, restore, or maintain the health of communities. Unfortunately, health systems in low-income countries are fragile, having an adverse effect on the health of the population. Whereas international development aid remains crucial in strengthening health systems in low-income countries (LICs), COVID-19 has induced changes in the dynamics in the availability, provision and access to international development aid. These changes have aggravated the already weak health systems of LICs. Understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the distribution of international development aid and how these effects impacted on the quality of the health systems in response to the outbreak is critical to improving the health of populations in LICs. This article discusses the impact of the challenges faced by LICs in the context of international development aid needed for the development of health systems.
RESUMO
Protecting the citizens who are living abroad has been a challenge for many countries during the current COVID-19 pandemic. In Bhutan, since the start of the pandemic, it has repatriated its citizens living and working abroad and putting them into a 21-day state-sponsored quarantine. They were also tested for COVID-19 on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that was funded by the government. While this measure is a blessing for its people, for the government it is a huge economic challenge.