COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program

Preparedness should be front and center of a disaster and/or pandemic response. The government set up a health emergency operations center and a WHO emergency operations center in 2018, and invested in medical camp kit tents, initially meant to be deployed for disaster relief. During the pandemic, the tents were repurposed to screen and treat patients with respiratory symptoms. In 2019, the country upgraded its Royal Centre for Disease Control laboratory, with equipment to not only handle new and deadly influenza viruses but also SARS-CoV-2. In November 2019, WHO and the Ministry of Health staged a simulation at the international airport to check for a new strain of coronavirus. From day one, Bhutan adopted and followed all technical guidance provided by the WHO to respond to the pandemic, including the immediate activation of the Health Emergency Operation Center upon detection of the first case. In terms of mobilizing funds for disaster management, the Public Finance Act, 2007 provides the legal framework and allowed the MOF to use public funds for emergency expenditures, which enabled proper budgeting, timely disbursement of funds, proper accounting, and auditing of COVID-19-related expenditures.