The COVID-19 pandemic, as an unprecedented global crisis, has tested health systems around the world and highlighted the need to review national response plans. This policy brief, with the aim of providing practical solutions for improving Iran’s COVID-19 response, is based on the findings of a comparative-analytical study of the experiences of five selected countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The findings show that the effectiveness of interventions is related to the implementation context, the quality of management, and the ability to secure community engagement. Analyzing these countries' experiences highlighted important policy options, including mandatory mask-wearing, implementing contact tracing systems, enforcing smart quarantines, investing in primary healthcare, and ensuring transparency in information dissemination.
However, the implementation considerations and potential barriers to each of these strategies, from cultural and infrastructure challenges to privacy issues and structural constraints, require serious planning. For example, the success of strategies such as “contact tracing” depends on a high level of public trust, which is built through transparency and honesty. Accordingly, the final prioritization of strategies for the Iranian context is presented based on the basic requirements for building resilience. In this regard, “establishing transparent governance and integrated information” are identified as a fundamental building block and “strengthening the primary health care system” as a key long-term strategy. These two strategies enable the effective implementation of other short- and medium-term interventions, such as mandatory mask wearing and situational quarantines. This document introduces the need to invest in public trust and basic health infrastructure to achieve a resilient health system with a preventive approach.