Low-income countries have several systemic disadvantages that cumulatively inhibit their capacity to cope with the spread of COVID-19. These systemic disadvantages, a result of long-term poverty and resource-constrained healthcare systems, are further worsened by other socio-economic outcomes of lockdowns and the spread of infection. BKC hosted a seminar on the economic and healthcare fallouts of COVID-19 in low-income countries, with a specific focus on groups such as women, refugees, and informal laborers, alongside options for international collaboration.

BKC’s Padmashree Gehl Sampath sets the stage and moderates the discussions, joined by BKC’s Yvonne Macpherson, who shares her work on COVID-19’s impact on women and refugees, and Dr. Madani B. Thiam, Chief of Health and Nutrition, UNICEF Myanmar, who speaks on the impact of COVID-19 on health systems capacity and healthcare from his experience in the field.