COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on many things. Not just people’s lives, but many essential services like health care were greatly affected. Due to a sudden surge in the cases and the lockdown that followed, the priority for treatment was given to the people infected with the novel coronavirus, and people themselves too were rather fearful to visit a clinic or hospitals to cater to their needs. As a result, many healthcare services were either avoided or simply ignored.
However, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a news release by the World Health Organization (WHO) stated, “At least half of the world’s population cannot obtain essential health services, according to a new report from the World Bank and WHO. And each year, large numbers of households are being pushed into poverty because they must pay for health care out of their own pockets”. Therefore, health services are either not affordable or not accessible, which is pretty worrisome.
Another worrisome news that came via WHO in 2020 was the death figures of children, who could not receive proper treatment on time. “In 2019 an estimated 5.2 million children under 5 years died mostly from preventable and treatable causes. Children aged 1 to 11 months accounted for 1.5 million of these deaths while children aged 1 to 4 years accounted for 1.3 million deaths. New-borns (under 28 days) accounted for the remaining 2.4 million deaths. An additional 500,000 older children (5 to 9 years) died in 2019.
Leading causes of death in children under-5 years are preterm birth complications, birth asphyxia/trauma, pneumonia, congenital anomalies, diarrhea, and malaria, all of which can be prevented or treated with access to simple, affordable interventions including immunization, adequate nutrition, safe water, and food and quality care by a trained health provider when needed. Older children (5-9 years) had one of the largest declines in mortality since 1990 (61%), due to a decline in infectious diseases. Injuries (including road traffic injuries and drowning) are the leading causes of death among older children.
Also Read: Poor Diabetes Linked To High COVID Complications Risk In Kids
People all over the world were also deprived of Immunization, non-communicable diseases diagnosis and treatment, mental health services, and family planning & contraception, etc.
Maternal Health Services Were Affected
In its guidelines, India's National Health Mission (NHM) mentions that 4 Antenatal Check-Ups (ANCs) are essential for a pregnant woman, to ensure both, healthy maternity and a healthy child, as well it is also helpful for them during the time of delivery. However, due to lockdown in the year 2020 in our country, the number of women who received 4 ANCs dropped by 7.7% between January to June, as compared to the figures of the previous year, 2019. In numbers, in April 2020, there were 7.15 lakh fewer women who received all 4 checkups as compared to the figures of April 2019. Although the number gradually increased as the lockdown restrictions were eased, it is still lesser than the pre-COVID times.
Another surprising observation that came in was that the institutional deliveries were lowered by about 9.59 lakh in the first 6 months of 2020 in comparison with that during the same time in 2019. This was probably because most women preferred giving birth at home or outside the institutions, due to the scare of contracting the virus, typically because little was known about the virus back then.
Also Read: Pneumococcal Vaccine: What You Need To Know
Immunization Amongst Children
There are many important vaccines that children must receive by a specific age like measles, DPT, Rubella, etc. WHO and UNICEF also feared, “an alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world. This is due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”. Delaying or avoiding vaccination overall can take a toll on a child's health for life.
There was a drop by nearly 12.8 lakh in BCG immunization in the first half of 2020, as compared to that in 2019. The infant who got the Pentavalent vaccine’s birth dose was also lowered by more than 14 lakhs. Apart from this, there was a 44% drop in the number of children who were immunized against Measles and Rubella. More than 1 lakh children missed these vaccines in the month of April alone. Similarly, immunization against Hepatitis B and Polio decreased.
But, in contrast to this, surprisingly in the case of Rotavirus vaccination, it was observed that the percentage of children who received the vaccine went up by 71% in the first 6 months of 2020.
Other Health Services
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were scared of getting infected with the fatal virus, which is why they preferred staying home instead of going to clinics and hospitals for treatment. A lesser number of people were admitted, treated, and attended surgeries. Both inpatient and outpatient health services were curtailed during the time of lockdown. As compared to the previous year, there was a fall of 71% in April 2020 in the number of people visiting hospitals for dental services.
Emergency Services
Emergency services during lockdown were also cut down. Reports found that hospitals hesitated and refused to attend to emergency services with a fear of the virus spreading. Apart from this, the hospital beds and other medical resources too were limited and reserved for COVID-19 patients, which made attending to other health emergencies even more difficult and challenging. There was a 14% drop in emergency services provided for cerebrovascular diseases and acute cardiac emergencies, along with an 11% drop in attending to obstetrics complications during the first half of the year 2020.
Basically, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed it last year in March 2020 did put health care systems to test all around the world. The limited available medical resources that account for the infrastructure, healthcare personnel, equipment, etc. were all diverted to the urgent requirements by COVID-19 infected patients. All this heavily affected people’s health conditions. People avoided visits to health care institutions unless it was for COVID-19, nutrition programs were disrupted and lockdown also posed challenges on transportation.
These disruptions might be temporary, but they can also greatly affect many lives in the long run. Although in the current times, the services are now open to attend to all the patients and online as well as teleconsultation are available, government authorities need to prepare to continue the availability of these services and their smooth functioning, while dealing with the pandemic alongside.
