Poor Countries More Severely Impacted Since COVID-19 Pandemic

Decades of Development Achievements in Underdeveloped Countries at Risk of Collapse
Health, Education, and Economy All Shaken

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has caused extreme suffering worldwide, with over one million deaths. Lockdown measures, as well as restrictive spread prevention measures such as social distancing, also demand social and economic costs. Both developed and developing countries cannot escape the pain caused by COVID-19, but especially in underdeveloped countries, decades of development achievements are being undone.

A Pakistani man holding his 10-month-old daughter who has polio [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Last month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established by Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates, released a report titled "COVID-19: A Global Perspective." Although it is an annually published "Goalkeepers Report," this year it detailed the suffering experienced worldwide, particularly in underdeveloped countries, triggered by COVID-19. Until now, underdeveloped countries showed rapid growth in indicators. They demonstrated visible achievements such as economic growth rates and a sharp reduction in absolute poverty. However, due to COVID-19, these achievements have rapidly regressed. Beyond the direct impacts such as deaths and confirmed cases caused by COVID-19, the world is losing the progress made in the war against poverty (poverty eradication, expansion of health and education) in the form of indirect effects.

According to research conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine, the vaccination coverage rate, which shows how well each country's health system is functioning, has fallen to 1990s levels this year. The proportion of children receiving vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) was 84% just last year, but this year it dropped to 70%. This means that 25 years of progress has regressed in just 25 weeks.

There can be various reasons for this health regression. The economic downturn may have weakened the fiscal capacity of underdeveloped countries, or the capacity to respond to other diseases may have decreased as efforts were focused on responding to COVID-19 risks. Regardless of the cause, if vaccination rates that had been maintained decline, deaths from other diseases such as measles will inevitably increase, even if deaths from COVID-19 do not.

Social progress achievements have also faced a crisis. According to the report, during the past Ebola virus outbreak, some West African countries issued school closure orders, and even after these orders were lifted, female students did not return to school. Despite decades of efforts to increase girls' school attendance, the closure of schools due to COVID-19 threatens to undo these achievements. The report pointed out in this regard that "there must also be confidence that the measures taken in response to COVID-19 are not permanent situations."

The economic situation is also precarious. Although all countries worldwide are suffering economic shocks due to COVID-19, the pain is even greater in underdeveloped countries. While developed countries are pouring out various fiscal and monetary policies to stimulate the economy, underdeveloped countries lack such resources. Developed and developing countries can issue government bonds to cover funding shortages, but underdeveloped countries cannot secure funds through international financial markets.

The only hope is limited to rescheduling debt repayment deadlines due this year. The Group of Twenty (G20) and others have agreed to postpone debt repayment schedules due this year.

However, the economic downturn is accelerating. Due to COVID-19, the economic income of underdeveloped countries is sharply declining. In particular, remittances sent by overseas migrant workers accounted for a large part of the economy in underdeveloped countries. However, as lockdown measures have reduced production activities in developed countries, migrant workers are also losing their jobs. Moreover, underdeveloped countries heavily depend on the tourism industry, and with international travel disappearing, their major economic income sources are also unavailable.

As a result of these impacts, poverty is rapidly increasing. The proportion of the population earning less than $2 per day had decreased from 37% worldwide 30 years ago to 7%, but within just a few months, 37 million people have been newly pushed into earning less than $2 per day. The report stated, "The longer COVID-19 persists, the greater the economic hardship will become."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.