Managing health systems on a seesaw: balancing the delivery of essential health services whilst responding to COVID-19. (Special Issue: COVID-19 health system response.)

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has put health systems and their ability to deliver health care services under strain. During the pandemic, health policymakers and health managers have learned to operate within a so-called "new normal" carefully balancing the response to COVID-19 with ensuring continuity of essential health services. Depending on the phase of the epidemic, the focus of service delivery needs to change requiring rapid shifts in priorities and allocation of resources while maintaining a baseline functionality for both. This dual-track approach presents an extreme challenge for policymakers and health facility mangers in agility and rapid alignment of key health system functions to accommodate increased demand for health services.