Pulse survey on continuity of essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic: Interim report

Published by the World Health Organization on August 27, 2020, this report presents the findings of a survey on the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on essential health services worldwide. The survey was carried out between May and July 2020 through a web-based questionnaire sent to health officials and policy advisors from 105 countries. It is the result of a collaboration between the WHO headquarters in Geneva and its Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regional offices. The publication classifies essential health services into five major groups: Emergency and critical care; Reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, and nutrition; Communicable diseases; Non-communicable diseases and mental health and Other essential services. It presents data on disruptions in the availability of these services during the pandemic and aims to aid policy-makers at national and international levels. This 29-page report is divided into six sections: Executive summary (Section 1); Introduction (Section 2); Methods (Section 3); Results (Section 4); Conclusions (Section 5); and References (Section 6).