TY - JOUR T1 - Overcoming disruptions in essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-008099 VL - 7 IS - 3 SP - e008099 AU - Svetlana V Doubova AU - Zoé Alejandro Robledo-Aburto AU - Célida Duque-Molina AU - Gabriela Borrayo-Sánchez AU - Margot González-León AU - Ricardo Avilés-Hernández AU - Saúl Eduardo Contreras-Sánchez AU - Hannah H Leslie AU - Margaret Kruk AU - Ricardo Pérez-Cuevas AU - Catherine Arsenault Y1 - 2022/03/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/7/3/e008099.abstract N2 - Summary boxSignificant disruptions in health services during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) to implement the National Strategy for Health Services Recovery (NHSR strategy) to ensure resumption of essential health services provided to almost 68 million IMSS affiliates.Starting in April 2021, the NHSR strategy included six major components: (1) reconversion of repurposed COVID-19 hospitals; (2) strengthening COVID-19 preventive measures; (3) adjusting governance to prioritise essential health services and enhance service delivery, including optimisation of family medicine clinics and hospital working shifts and nationwide weekend services delivery and monothematic (focused on one service or disease) healthcare days; (4) implementation of telemedicine services; (5) reinforcement of preventive services and health promotion activities and (6) regular monitoring of essential health services.Lessons learnt could be used as an opportunity to strengthen and modernise IMSS healthcare and enable the institution to satisfy the demand and health needs of the population.Future research should assess whether the NHSR strategy was successful in bringing service levels back to prepandemic trends and overcoming the backlogs in care to inform continued health service improvements.The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose significant challenges for health systems globally that must respond simultaneously to the needs of people with COVID-19 while maintaining the provision of essential health services.1 The continuity of preventive, diagnostic and curative services is critical to reduce avoidable morbidity and mortality.1To respond to the pandemic, health systems reallocated funds, health personnel, infrastructure and equipment from routine services to COVID-19 care and prevention. This prioritisation resulted in a substantial reduction in the capacity to provide essential health services across many countries.2 Today, resuming essential health services and managing backlogs of services are critical to improve population’s health. These challenges are complicated by ongoing surges in COVID-19 cases … ER -