Self-care interventions and practices as essential approaches to strengthening health-care delivery

Self-care gained visibility and prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as people all over the world started to practise hand hygiene, wear a mask, and perform self-tests at home. As a cornerstone of the global response, policy makers understood the important role of individuals and communities in reducing the transmission of the virus, related mortality and morbidities, and in relieving the strain on health systems. The public had a vital role in ensuring continuity of health and social care. The pandemic also highlighted the need to give people more tools to take charge of their own health if inefficiencies across health systems and inequities in access to care are to be addressed.