Supporting coordinated approaches across health and social protection systems to enhance resilience

Abstract The channels through which shocks and stressors affect individual’s health and socioeconomic vulnerability are often similar or closely intertwined. Similarly, the effectiveness of the respective responses of social protection and health systems to shocks and stressors are highly interdependent or mutually reinforcing. The effectiveness of a social protection system response in supporting income security and ensuring continuous access to health and other essential services is itself strongly dependent on the ability of the health system to continue delivering quality services. In turn, the effectiveness of public health measures during crises are bolstered by social protection responses that support income security and access to essential services with an impact on nutrition, housing, and other social determinants of health. Yet, such responses are too often implemented in siloes and policies to strengthen those systems are too often competing. In the face of ongoing megatrends that increasingly drive shocks and stressors and enhance vulnerabilities, the article addresses the question of how health and social protection systems can better coordinate to strengthen the resilience of populations.