COVID-19 and health systems challenges of non-communicable diseases

Prior to COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia’s health system is already facing some daunting challenges: the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including mental disorders that threaten to drain the financial sustainability of the universal health system, and the persistent problems of maternal health, infectious, and nutritional diseases. At the same time, the economic burden of NCDs in terms of labour supply and productivity lost is high and likely to be increasing. The paper draws on previous literature, news/media, and experience of other countries to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic can have medium- and long-term impact on NCDs and their risk factors. We discuss the various pathways of how the pandemic could have major lasting impacts from completely overwhelming the health system capacity through interruptions of basic health services, mobility restrictions, as well as disruptions of monitoring and care service management for NCDs and their risk factors. The paper also looks at how these indirect impacts of the pandemic on NCDs may differentially affect households based on their socio-economic status. Further, the paper investigates potential mental health impacts of the pandemic. Finally, the paper concludes with some policy implications which include the importance to prioritise on NCDs in post pandemic era.