News
Is COVID-19 creating a disaster for non-COVID patients?
Serious concerns are being expressed in health circles that due to the major focus on all that is COVID-19 including patients who have contracted it, there may be a rise in the deaths of those affected by non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
There have been some instances where patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been shuttled here and there due to the non-availability of specialists, they alleged.
While these sources declined to be named, a pointer that all may not right in the health sector, came from the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka (CCPSL) which focused on the importance of preventing both ‘direct’ mortality from the COVID-19 outbreak and ‘indirect’ mortality from other treatable conditions.
“The country’s annual outpatient and in-ward patient turnout is around 7 million (19,200 per day) and 56 million (153,400 per day) respectively. In many hospitals, including tertiary care institutes, the epidemic response has created a situation where all medical services are prioritised for COVID-19 patients, to the extent of other patients being denied access and availability to services,” the CCPSL said.
Looking at the reality at ground level, they pinpoint that on one hand, people fear to come for services and present late as emergencies, and on the other, when patients do come, the health staff responsiveness would be negative, with a tendency for refusal/postponement of care which can result in increased mortality (death) and morbidity (illness) that could have been prevented.
Essential care is being misinterpreted also as emergency care due to routine services being disrupted. At present, the entire health system is geared to face the challenge of the epidemic at the expense of services at first contact level, clinic-based care, field health services (well baby/immunization/antenatal/family planning), surgical care and other routine medical interventions, according to the CCPSL.
“We believe the disruption of the whole spectrum of routine services in the entire country is unwarranted. The consequences of this strategy would end in a long-term catastrophe. As a country with a relatively low COVID-19 caseload, it is essential to maintain routine service delivery, until strategic shifts are required to ensure maximum benefit for a population, as a result of increasing caseloads or infected health workers,” it states, requesting the health administration to facilitate all tertiary care or main hospitals in each district to function in full force with necessary precautions, while fever patients should be admitted to identified hospitals for further testing and care.
Maintaining supply chains for medications and other needed supplies should be done by a high-powered team, as importation may be compromised due to high demand and limited supplies from manufacturing countries, adds the CCPSL.