Effects of the paradigm shift from existing ailment to the COVID-19 Pandemic
In a span of only a few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily routines and impacted communities across the world in unprecedented ways.
For nine months now, majority of our hospitals — both government and private , have been focused just on COVID-19 Pandemic. While it has been a dire need of the hour to bring about constructive changes in the administration of the treatment for the patients and ensure sufficient quantity and quality of medical aid, we cannot pose a deaf ear to the existing ailments and diseases.
The Indian healthcare scenario presents a spectrum of contrasting landscapes. At one end of the spectrum are the glitzy steel and glass structures delivering high-tech medicare to the well-heeled, mostly urban Indian. At the other end are the ramshackle outposts in the remote reaches of the “other India” trying desperately to live up to their identity as healthcare center, waiting to be transformed to shrines of health and wellness, a story which we will wait to see unfold. During crisis like a pandemic, such discriminative hitches in healthcare lead to further economic and social deterioration of the society.
Atleast 1000 non-covid-19 deaths in India have been reported each day, during the last one month and these numbers are only increasing at an alarming rate. 25% of these deaths have occurred due to negligence of focus towards the other patients, and were hence preventable. According to the data released by NHM, the child immunization rates have dropped down by 62% — at least 10000 children have not received their BCG vaccination and Administered Polio Drops fell by more than 41%. There has been nearly a 60% decline in Cancer Care. [1]
While our singular prime focus has been on tackling the pandemic, in due process, the number of existing supply chains for other life-saving drugs have been disrupted massively. For many diseases, the cost of drugs has shot high as access and supply has declined. Example — A medicine which was normally costing Rs.370, was costing Rs.590 by March and more than Rs.3000 by May, that is nearly 10 times the original cost. One can only imagine the magnitude of increase for medicines for Cancer , Diabetes and other cardiovascular , respiratory ,pulmonary diseases. There are no alternatives for the patients, but to buy these medications at the demanded price. In some cases, the patients were compelled to ration their treatment and consume the drugs once a week instead of thrice. All in a bid to balance conserving cash and staying alive.
The simple act of visiting a doctor for general therapeutic checkups and vital treatments became arduous. Miscellaneous medical facilities, such as Ambulances, MRI/CT Scans, etc became extravagantly priced , making it out of reach for the common public. To add to the menace, most of the hospitals are being made COVID-exclusive and hence inaccessible to those who were depended on them otherwise. A delayed treatment of patients with a chronic illness can turn out to be fatal and in most cases, the COVID deaths occur due to exiting co-morbidities. This makes these already ailing patients more prone to succumbing to the virus. Lack of treatment for Corona in no way equates to these diseases suddenly ceasing to exist. This is a ticking bomb of human suffering and avoidable deaths which need our immediate attention.
It is apoplectic to witness the plight of India in this pandemic. While the lives of millions others are at stake, the pandemic seems to be clawing India faster and wider, with each passing day. With India spending just 1.28% of its GDP on healthcare , it is rather not shocking to see how miserable we are in dealing with a global crisis such as COVID-19. [2]
If there is a further decay of the medical treatment provided to other ailments, India could lead to a serious public health crisis, with the potential to erase gains made against a number of diseases since decades.
The only way out, is to ensure that global health policies are not designed on a response mode to case-by-case threats, but should adopt a systems approach that can support a holistic picture of global disease burdens, risks and health conditions, as well as better consider the system-wide effects of adopted measures. Countering current fragmentation in global health governance will require a substantial shift in global health policy-making from a reactional paradigm to a systemic and preventive paradigm, with meaningful commitments to human health security. There is a need to shift our focus from short-term curative policies to long-term preventive and promotional policies based on a holistic view of people’s health, which notably implies limiting environmental factors, reducing social health inequities, helping populations reduce their individual risk factors and augmenting their natural immunity [3]
[1] (World Health Organization 2020) — https://www.who.int/data#reports