The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus forced governments to adapt to face the health crisis, making adjustments according to its development. International organizations as well as Social Security institutions continue to make efforts to control and mitigate the disease in accordance with the recommendations declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), which are: to guarantee early detection to reduce transmission rates, to work with all government sectors to keep basic health services and those caused by the spread of the disease, as well as the application of vaccines to reduce the cost of treatment for vulnerable, immunocompromised and infected people. The implementation of each of these recommendations generated direct costs, which implies substantial modifications to the Health and Social Security Systems.

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make efforts to control and mitigate the disease in accordance with the recommendations declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), which are: to guarantee early detection to reduce transmission rates, to work with all government sectors to keep basic health services and those caused by the spread of the disease, as well as the application of vaccines to reduce the cost of treatment for vulnerable, immunocompromised and infected people. The implementation of each of these recommendations generated direct costs, which implies substantial modifications to the Health and Social Security Systems.

In general, the COVID-19 disease caused extra economic and social costs, but particularly in the health sector, such as the unforeseen reconversion of hospital infrastructure to care for the infected population. The low public expenditure on health, evidenced the backwardness that exists in the health systems, which translates into inefficient primary health care and lack of effective systems for the management of health emergencies. It showed that having a financially sustainable health system could have translated into lower mortality rates.

It is not yet known what the real impact on the countries’ finances will be in the medium and long term, so it is important to consider the following points: 1) rethinking the spending that governments make on health on an ordinary basis and the restructuring of the financial operation after the experience of the pandemic, in order to be better prepared for any emergency in the future and 2) health planning, through a risk management approach to emergencies caused by any hazard; with improvements in the existing infrastructure, increase in health sector positions, training of health personnel, improvement of supply chains, investment in the development of new technologies for the organization of health services, to mention a few

The problem of the pandemic is not reduced only to the health crisis, it goes beyond that, it is directly observed how it affected the Health Systems in the region and in particular the most vulnerable populations, it also widened the gap in access to health, increased labor precariousness, decreased access to education and negatively affected the economy of families, to mention some of its effects.

In short, the relevance of this webinar lies in the untimely impact and the costs generated by COVID 19, which implies, in general terms, rethinking Social Security with a view to reflecting on a post-pandemic stage.

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