Geneva: Nearly every country has experienced disruptions to essential health services amid the pandemic, the World Health Organization said, with low- and middle-income countries being the greatest affected.
The data was revealed in a survey concerning the impact of the pandemic on WHO member states published Monday that found 90% of the 105 responding countries reported experiencing disruptions to essential health services.
The survey said that while most countries’ health systems were impacted, the great majority of service disruptions were defined as “partial,” meaning they experienced a change of between 5-50% in service provision.
All services from communicable diseases to nutrition and reproductive were disrupted, it said.
Routine immunization outreach services such as for malaria treatments were the most heavily impacted with 70% of countries saying they experienced disruptions in such services followed by non-communicable disease diagnosis and treatment at 69%, family planning and contraception at 68%, facility-based services at 61%, treatment for mental health disorders at 61% and cancer diagnosis and treatment at 55%.
Emergencies services were the least impacted although 16 countries reported disruptions across all such departments and nearly a quarter of responding nations said they experience disruptions to potentially life-saving emergency services, such as 24-hour emergency rooms, blood transfusions and emergency surgeries.
In a statement, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic should stand as a lesson that health is not an either-or equation and that all issues should be addressed.
