What began as an outbreak in China towards the end of 2019 has shaken the world throughout 2020.
The Covid-19 disease is a huge challenge to the world economy since December 2019 and continues to harm the world economically, but a more considerable challenge rests on global health.
While the priority has been to prevent the disease from spreading, other health services seem to be overlooked, leading to far-reaching health challenges, especially to the people with chronic illnesses that need constant attention. In a nutshell, the equity of access to health services is nearly impossible in 2020.
Many industries have developed new strategies to deal with the crisis, for instance, the betting and casino industries have put more emphasis on players utilizing the online casino to combat the spread.
Unseen Health Impacts of Coronavirus
The road to ensuring good health for the world population has proved to be bumpier in 2020 than never before. The global pandemic (COVID-19) is the most significant health crisis since the second world war, according to health experts. In April 2020, Covid-19 infections hit the 1.3 million mark and increased exponentially throughout the year.
Effect on Hospitals
Hospitals carry the bulk of government healthcare expenditure and are the main element in handling public health. But the rising of the pandemic has been forcing governments to focus on funding the fight against Covid-19. In 2019-2020, every hospital worldwide tended to put many efforts into facilities required to attend critical COVID-19 patients. However, very few hospitals have specialized in ICU, especially in the less developed countries. The scenario has been creating pressure on hospitals making the normal functioning unachievable.
The unprecedented nature of the pandemic resulted in a private-public partnership in many countries. The joint efforts are to continue until the end of the pandemic, with the governments pledging to foot half of the private hospitals’ service cost.
Governments Reaction
Most governments responded by restricting international traveling. Some also barred local traveling while others took full lockdown measures. Patients who depend on health services from abroad have difficulty trying to get health services locally. Though the exact restrictions vary from state to state, maintaining the hospitals’ standard operations has been difficult. However, some countries have been teaming up with the World Health Organization to avail the required medical services to the people, though achieving every service has not been realized.
Repercussions on Basic Healthcare
Government support for primary healthcare in most countries has steadily tapered off due to the pandemic. Medical practitioners bear the weight, too, as the number of patients per medical practitioner increases drastically. The spending on healthcare also has been crippled while nurses and doctors face the risk of contracting the virus. Others have succumbed to the disease.
The expanding world population and increased life expectancy is a favorable environment for the pandemic. As the world population expands, so does the need for primary healthcare services. The year 2020, however, is faced with a disease that thrives fast in dense populations. The vulnerability for the aged and people living with health conditions has been high. Essential healthcare services are not achievable. Also, air pollution and smoking seem to increase the risk of spreading the disease due to its respiratory nature.