• A recent study in the PLOS ONE Journal analyzes the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on 43 SDG health indicators across 185 countries.

• The study also compared the actual progress to projected progress based on pre-pandemic trends to assess the pandemic's impact on global health.

• It draws attention to the widening gap in global health, with low-income nations predicted to have a 34% decline in infectious disease progress loss as opposed to 6% in high-income nations.

• Low-income countries may experience a 16% average progress loss across health indicators, while high-income countries might see a 3% loss.

• Extrapolation was done using the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) pre-COVID-19 economic projections to predict health outcomes from 2020 to 2030.

• A comparison of baseline (pre-COVID-19) and post-COVID-19 scenarios revealed substantial economic growth losses, especially in low—and lower-middle-income countries (42% and 28%, respectively) compared to high—and upper-middle-income countries (15% and 7%, respectively).

• The study highlights the widening gap between rich and poor nations during the pandemic. 

• While wealthier countries could better manage the crisis, poorer nations faced more significant challenges due to limited resources.

• This study points towards action plans to diminish inequalities as a part of global health agendas.

Click here to read more.