NEFPORT ISSUE 42 – SEPTEMBER 2020
HEALTH HEALTH The treatment of diseases other than COVID-19 has been severely disrupted since the pandemic started. As the already inadequate healthcare resources in the country have been directed to combat the novel coronavirus, the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NDC) like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular emergencies have been neglected.58 However, the coronavirus seems to have disproportionately affected people who already have existing non-communicable health complications. Cases of suicide and mental health issues soar across the country:
According to the data compiled by the Nepal Police, suicide cases across the country in the first month of the lockdown period have increased by 20 percent in comparison to the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) 59. While mental health experts add that this “grim situation” has connection to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is likely to get worse as the rate of mental health illness is expected to rise significantly after the pandemic. It is predicted that the financial strain caused by the lockdown in the form of job losses and reduced income has further deteriorated people’s mental well-being. Dr Sagun Ballav Pant, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) argues that deprivation of requirements beyond “food, shelter and clothes, such as lack of recreation can also take a toll on people’s mental health. 60 Additionally, according to UNICEF and WHO, contracting COVID-19 is often stigmatized. However, the stigma, not only being limited to ill or even recovered COVID-19
patients, has also affected frontline health workers.61 Nurses, doctors and other medical professionals are reported to have been evicted by some house owners fearing the spread of novel coronavirus in their locality. Similarly, cured COVID-19 patients are also socially discriminated against upon returning home which not only leads them to them hiding their symptoms but also evading testing and not seeking medical assistance. Furthermore, the stigma can prevent people from being mentally healthy upon recovery as it significantly increases people’s suffering in the form of stress, anxiety and isolation. Government instructs medical colleges to allocate one-third beds for COVID-19 patients: Recognizing
that hospitals are running out of beds following a rise in COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Health has instructed medical colleges across the nation to reserve one-third of the total beds, separate isolation buildings and rooms for the treatment of coronavirus infected patients.62 Kathmandu Metropolitan City Health Division struggles with contact tracing: Contact Tracing
is a process whereby concerned
health and government officials trace people who have had contact with an infected person who tested positive. While Asian countries like Taiwan and Singapore have been able to contain the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus by employing contact testing effectively, Nepal’s progress in wielding contact tracing to stop the spread of the virus has been disappointingly minimal.63 The primary cause behind contact tracing’s ineffectiveness has been the nation’s bureaucratic inertia during a situation that demands swift bureaucratic adaptability and political maneuvers. Experts have argued that by the time contact tracing takes place in Nepal—which is days or even weeks—its purpose is defeated because this does not give officials adequate time to break the chain of transmission as more people progressively become a part of the chain with time. While experts suggest that more than 100 personnel are required to ensure contact tracing’s efficacy across Kathmandu valley (10,000 to 15,000 personnel required across the nation solely dedicated to the task to break the ‘transmission chain’) ,
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