Governance of the Covid-19 response: a call for more inclusive and transparent decision-making

Not all countries make their Covid-19 task force membership list public-the available information varies by country. There is currently a predominance of politicians, virologists and epidemiologists in the Covid-19 response at the country level. Experts on non-Covid-19 health, social and societal consequences of Covid-19 response measures are, for the most part, not included in Covid-19 decisionmaking bodies. There is little transparency regarding whom decision-making bodies are consulting as their source of advice and information. From the available data on Covid-19 decisionmaking entities, female representation is particularly paltry. In addition, civil society is hardly involved in national government decision-making nor its response efforts, barring some exceptions. We need to be more inclusive and multidisciplinary: