The long-term scars of Peru’s COVID-19 policy response on pension security

Peru has been one of the countries most seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indeed, as of July 2022, the country observed about 6500 COVID-19 cumulative deaths per million people, the highest in the world (World Bank, 2023). The health effects of the pandemic emerged relatively quickly although the country was fast in implementing containing measures such as social distancing policies, nationwide lockdowns, closures of education institutions, shutdowns of business and curfews. The main reason for this negative outcome was the collapse of an underfunded public health care system with low coverage among the population and a lack of adequate health care facilities, including enough hospitals to treat patients requiring intensive care (see more in Olivera, 2021) Levels of public investments in health have been lower in Peru than in other countries with similar economic development (Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC), 2019). (...)