China is a member state of the WHO Western Pacific region. It has a population of 1,409.29 million and a total gross domestic product (GDP) of Int$ 29,712.83 billion [1].
According to WHO, as at 24 February 2020, there was a total of 79,331 confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the world, which including 2,618 deaths [2]. About 77,262 (97.39%) of those cases and 2,595 (99.12%) were in China. Huang et al [3] study entitled “Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China” revealed that 49% of people who died of COVID-19 were aged 25-49 years, 34% were aged 50-64 years, and 17% were aged 65 years and above.
China’s capacity to contain the spread of COVID-19 hinges on the strength and resilience of its national health system (NHS), disease surveillance system and other systems that address social determinants of health (SDH). The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) service coverage index [4] for China of 76% implies a gap in coverage of essential health services (reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health; infectious diseases; noncommunicable diseases (NCD); and service capacity and access) of 24% [5]. The average of 13 international health regulations (IHR) core capacities (i.e. legislation and financing, coordination and national focal point, zoonotic events, and the human-animal interface, food safety, laboratory, surveillance, human resources, national health emergency framework, health service provision, risk communication, points of entry, chemical events, and radiation emergencies) scores for China is 94%; implying gaps in IHR core capacities of 6% [6]. Approximately, 92% of China’s population uses safely managed drinking water services, implying a gap of 8% [7]. And the population using safely managed sanitation services is 72%, meaning the existence of a coverage gap of 28%. Also, nearly 4.9% of adults (those aged 15 years and above) are not literate [8]. The gaps in NHS (as indicated by coverage of essential health services), disease surveillance (shown in the sub-optimal IHR capacities), and systems that tackle SDH (such as water, sanitation, and education) might hamper China’s efforts expand effective coverage of various preventive interventions against COVID-19.
Therefore, there is a need for economic studies that can be used to contribute towards making a case for investing more resources in the strengthening of NHS, IHR capacities and other systems that tackle SDH. To date, no study has attempted to estimate the fiscal value of human lives lost due to COVID-19. The specific objective of this study was to estimate the fiscal value of human lives lost due to COVID-19 in China as of 24th February 2020.