Three months after the outbreak began, it is easy to see the COVID-19 pandemic for what it is: a human tragedy that constitutes the most severe blow to the global economy since the Second World War. It has swiftly overwhelmed the health systems of all nations—developed and developing— producing social and economic impacts that will be unprecedented in scale. For the poorest countries, however, the full danger is only just coming into view. They will face the crisis from a position of profound disadvantage: their health systems are fragile, their access to crit