Governance of the Covid-19 response: a call for more inclusive and transparent decision-making - Rajan, Dheepa; Koch, Kira; Rohrer, Katja; Bajnoczki, Csongor; Socha, Anna; Voss, Maike; Nicod, Marjolaine; Ridde, Valery; Koonin, Justin (BMJ Global Health, 2020)
Not all countries make their Covid-19 task force membership list public—the available information varies by country. There is currently a predominance of politicians, virologists and epidemiologists in the Covid-19 response at the country level. Experts on non-Covid-19 health, social and societal consequences of Covid-19 response measures are, for the most part, not included in Covid-19 decision-making bodies. There is little transparency regarding whom decision-making bodies are consulting as their source of advice and information. From the available data on Covid-19 decision-making entities, female representation is particularly paltry. In addition, civil society is hardly involved in national government decision-making nor its response efforts, barring some exceptions. We need to be more inclusive and multidisciplinary: the Covid-19 crisis is not simply a health problem but a societal one—it impacts every single person in society one way or another. Decision makers need to address more systematically the suffering from mental illness exacerbations, domestic violence, child abuse, child development delays, chronic diseases and so on, during lockdown.
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