The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas ranks 60th in the world in preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

The UNDP has explored countries’ readiness in terms of overall human development, inequality, doctors per 10,000 people, nurses and midwives per 10,000 people, hospital beds per 10,000 people, current health expenditure, mobile phone subscription per 100 people and fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people.

Most of the data was collected before 2019.

The Bahamas scores a 0.805 on the Human Development Index, constituting “very high development.” However, data was not available for assessing inequality issues in the country.

The country, according to the UNDP, has 19.4 doctors per 10,000 people, 31 nurses per 10,000 people, 29 hospital beds per 10,000 people, 99 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people and 22.6 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people.

The country spends 6.4 percent of its annual gross domestic product on healthcare.

Barbados is the only country in the Caribbean region that outranks The Bahamas on the human development index, with a score of 0.813. The list is topped by Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and Hong Kong.

“COVID-19 crisis is more than a global health emergency; it is a systemic human development crisis, reflecting our interaction with the ecosystem we are part of, which is already affecting the economic and social dimensions of development in unprecedented ways,” the UNDP says.

“The level of human development and its inequality, together with healthcare system capacity, can portray countries’ preparedness to respond effectively and efficiently to a health crisis. For example, a very high human development country has on average 55 hospital beds, over 30 physicians, and 81 nurses per 10,000 people, compared to seven hospital beds, 2.5 physicians, and six nurses in a least developed country.

“Widespread lockdowns around the world mean many people are having to rely on Internet access to work, continue with their education, and interact with others. The digital divide has become more significant than ever, as hundreds of millions of people around the globe still don’t have access to reliable broadband internet.”

Regarding mobile phone and fixed broadband subscriptions, the Bahamas is considered to have very high human development, according to the UNDP.