Amid Covid-19 crisis, other health services take a hit

Team Udayavani, Apr 28, 2020, 5:05 PM IST

Entire Nation is gripped with the fear of Covid-19, healthcare professionals and government are doing their best to prevent the spread of Coroanvirus in the country. Govt has also ramped up the production of Modern equipment, mobile testing kits, PPE and masks.

But amid Covid-19, it seems like the other health issues and services are being neglected. Response to the Covid-19 epidemic is stopping health services such as immunisation and treatment of acute and chronic diseases that affect millions of people in the region.

If Covid-19 disrupts the immunisation programmes, it will lead to a new crisis at a time when health systems are already strained

Also, several people need care and treatment for acute and chronic conditions such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and heart diseases.

There are many who are currently dealing with serious illnesses and require regular treatment but Covid-19 has caused hindrance to all of that.

There have been several instances of non-availability of ambulances in India due to Covid-19. Recently, A woman in Bihar and her husband were forced to walk with the body of their three-year-old son after the state-run hospital in Jehanabad, about 48 km from state capital Patna.

According to the child’s father, he fell ill two days back and was having fever, cold and cough. They were consulting local doctors in their village but as his condition worsened, they hired a tempo to bring him to a hospital in Jehanabad because they could not get an ambulance.

The district administration has suspended a manager at the state-run Sadar hospital and some doctors have been given a show-cause notice. They also instructed that Ambulance has to be provided without any delay to the patients. However, the situation remains the same.

In another instance, a woman in Bhatkal delivered baby in an auto rickshaw as they did not get an ambulance. Razmiya (24), wife of Ibrahim Khalil Hader Sab, resident of Arshiya colony, Heble, Jamia Abad Road is the lady who was delivered the baby in the auto-rickshaw allegedly due to non-availibility of ambulance.

However, both mother and child are healthy. This is the second incident of this kind in the town. Earlier, a woman had to deliver the baby at home after repeated calls for ambulance went unanswered.

Also, a man aged 65 was carried to hospital in a police van after repeated calls for ambulance went unanswered in Hoige Bazar. Sources claim that man had a heart attack while returning from doctor’s clinic and when the family members called the ambulance there was no response. Later, he was taken in a police van to the nearest hospital.

It is high time that government takes effective measures to tackle the problem as Covid-19 response must not put their lives at risk by compromising emergency services.