Building resilient societies after COVID-19: the case for investing in maternal, neonatal, and child health (The Lancet)

Open AccessPublished:September 21, 2020 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30200-0

Resilient societies respond rapidly and effectively to health challenges and the associated economic consequences, and adapt to be more responsive to future challenges. Although it is only possible to recognise resilience retrospectively, the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred at a point in human history when, uniquely, sufficient knowledge is available on the early-life determinants of health to indicate clearly that a focus on maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH) will promote later resilience. This knowledge offers an unprecedented opportunity to disrupt entrenched strategies and to reinvest in MNCH in the post-COVID-19 so-called new normal. Furthermore, analysis of the short-term, medium-term, and longer-term consequences of previous socioeconomic shocks provides important insights into those domains of MNCH, such as neurocognitive development and nutrition, for which investment will generate the greatest benefit. Such considerations apply to high-income countries (HICs) and low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, implementing appropriate policies in the post-COVID-19 recovery period will be challenging and requires political commitment and public engagement.

The global financial crisis of 2008 provided recent lessons about the effects of socioeconomic shocks on MNCH. Excess infant mortality was observed in HICs and LMICs.

¹² In some LMICs, a 10% reduction in gross domestic product (GDP) was associated with an 8·5% increase in maternal mortality, disproportionately affecting adolescent mothers.

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