COVID-19 and the economy: job loss and economic shutdown

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated several countries across the globe, having economic, social, and health impacts on all nations, some more than others with over 31 million infection cases and almost 1 million deaths as a result of the pandemic. This has caused a ripple effect on the agricultural sector as seen by the food scarcity and the increase in food spoilage ravaging the sector as many local farmers are unable to transport their produce to consumers. The pandemic has also confronted the hospitality industry with an unprecedented challenge as a result of the temporary closure they had to experience due to the lockdown imposed in affected countries. The transport sector is not excluded though to the positive side as there has been a decrease in air pollution within some countries due to the various travel restrictions and bans placed on the movement of people. Another sector seriously hit by the pandemic is the tourism sector as there has been a projected loss of about $1.2 trillion equivalent to 1.5% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The same goes for the sports sector as major tournaments have either been cancelled or postponed. This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and its corresponding implication on job loss in various sectors. With the daily increase in the number of infected cases globally, systems and structures which will be able to neutralize the effects of future pandemics need to be put in place and reviewed from time to time

How West African countries prioritize health.

BACKGROUND: The goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is to ensure that everyone is able to obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship. UHC remains a mirage if government health expenditure is not improved. Health priority refers to general government health expenditure as a percentage of general government expenditure. It indicates the priority of the government to spend on healthcare from its domestic public resources. Our study aimed to assess health priorities in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using the health priority index from the WHO's Global Health Expenditure Database. METHOD: We extracted and analysed data on health priority in the WHO's Global Health Expenditure Database across the 15 members of the ECOWAS (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo) from 2010 to 2018 to assess how these countries prioritize health. The data are presented using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that no West African country beats the cutoff of a minimum of 15% health priority index. Ghana (8.43%), Carbo Verde (8.29%), and Burkina Faso (7.60%) were the top three countries with the highest average health priority index, while Guinea (3.05%), Liberia (3.46%), and Guinea-Bissau (3.56%) had the lowest average health priority in the West African region within the period of our analysis (2010 to 2018). CONCLUSION: Our study reiterates the need for West African governments and other relevant stakeholders to prioritize health in their political agenda towards achieving UHC