oecd.org (09.11.2021) OECD Health at a Glance 2021 says that the mental health impact of the pandemic has been huge, with prevalence of anxiety and depression more than double levels observed pre-crisis in most countries with available data, most notably in Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States.

OECD (21.10.2021) The COVID-19 crisis has hit the long-term care (LTC) sector particularly hard, with large numbers of people dependent on care and particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 have fallen ill, and a disproportionate rate of LTC workers both exposed to, and infected by, COVID-19. The analysis presented in this report describes the effects of COVID-19 on LTC in OECD countries, mainly showing infection rates and mortality of LTC recipients.

bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com (27.08.2021) Cash transfer program during pandemics provide a social protection mechanism to improve the health of the most vulnerable households. This article analysis the impact of cash transfers on household demand for health care during Covid-19.

who.int (31.08.20121) Health technologies are essential for a functioning health system. The  response  to  the  global  COVID-19  pandemic  crisis  has  exacerbated  the  need  for  rapid  evidence based  assessments  of  innovative  health  technologies  to  ensure  safe  and  appropriate  use.  Thus,  the objectives of the 2021 compendium are to: 1.Select  innovative  technologies  that  can  have  an  immediate  or  future  impact  on  the  COVID-19 preparedness  and  response,  have  the  potential  to  improve  health  outcomes  and  quality  of life,  and/or  offer  a  solution  to 

bbc.com (18.06.2021) The US Supreme Court has rejected a Trump-backed challenge by Republican-led states to former President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul. Despite the court's conservative tilt, its nine justices ruled by 7-2 that the challengers did not have legal standing to sue. It is the third time since 2010 that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Obamacare, has survived a challenge. The law gave millions of low-income Americans access to medical insurance.

World Economic Forum (27.05.2021) Innovative solutions have been developed across Africa and Asia to deal with the increasing demand for health workers and services due to COVID-19. These include the use of drones, solar-powered freezers and utilizing Pakistan's unemployed doctors. In a pandemic, these solutions can be the deciding factor between effectively managing the virus and not.

sciencemag.org (06.11.2020) Telemedicine comes in many shapes and sizes and offers many advantages over the traditional healthcare visit, but until recently, it was largely underutilized. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly changed that—only time will tell if telemedicine’s new popularity will last.  On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, radically changing the way medicine is practiced.

Immediately before the pandemic, 300 enterprise Mayo Clinic physicians and advanced practice providers had performed a minimum of one video telemedicine consult in the preceding year. By July 15, 2020, the number of Mayo Clinic providers performing video telemedicine consults had risen to >6,500, reflecting a 2,000% increase. Through this pandemic, we have witnessed unprecedented growth in telemedicine utilization. The existing telemedicine system has proven to be scalable.

Estonian Medical Certificate Every person needs to have a valid medical certificate for the duration of their driving license. When a medical certificate expires, a new medical certificate must be submitted to the Road Administration. Once issued, the certificate is automatically transmitted to the motor registry.

Digital transformation in the health sector is not a simple matter of technical change, but requires adaptive change in human attitudes and skills as well as of legal frameworks and  the organisation of work. 

The author of this report is Karolina Socha­ Dietrich, OECD Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social  Affairs (ELS), Health Division.   This report was prepared for the 2020 German Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with  the support from the German Federal Ministry of Health (2020).