COVID-19 could trigger NCD crisis, PAHO warns - Local situation getting grim, says Diabetes Assn head
Published:Wednesday | July 8, 2020 | 12:22 AMNadine Wilson-Harris/Staff Reporter
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is warning that some countries could be setting themselves up for a different health crisis as they divert attention from the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to battle COVID-19.
“Services for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases or NCDs have been critically affected since the pandemic,” PAHO Director Dr Carissa Etienne said yesterday during a media briefing on COVID-19 in the Americas. “Services were interrupted in several countries, affecting all types of care for people with different NCDs, but more so for diabetes, hypertension and rehabilitation services.”
To make matters worse, she said, many health staff who previously worked in these areas have been reassigned to combat COVID-19.
Lurline Less, president of the Diabetes Association of Jamaica (DAJ), is deeply concerned about what she has already been seeing as her team offers blood sugar, blood pressure, urine tests and other services free of cost in 25 vulnerable communities across the island. Their efforts are supported by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Council of Voluntary Social Services.
“The situation is getting grim,” Less said, pointing to the need for intervention at the community level, as particularly the elderly lock themselves away to safeguard against COVID-19.
Less said they were forced to turn back persons on Saturday in one Linstead, St Catherine, community, because they had quickly reached their target of 30 persons. Several individuals had also turned up for screening, but could not be assisted as the focus was on persons already diagnosed with NCDs.
“On Saturday, there was a 14-year-old, her blood sugar was so high, under normal circumstances, we would have sent her to the hospital, but because we were in the community, she was able to go for her logbook, go for her medication, get her blood sugar machine, so we got to see everything that was happening to her and got an intervention with her on the spot, so her sugar went down,” Less told The Gleaner.
“Eventually, these persons are going to end up in the hospital with other complications costing a lot more than COVID,” she lamented, noting that treating kidney disease, for example, is extremely costly.
EXTREMELY DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES
The DAJ president said that some persons have lost their jobs and are finding it extremely difficult to find the bus fare to go to their health centre. Others have been forced to consume a greater portion of less healthy foods to save money. In fact, she observed that these products – such as white flour and white rice – are often included in COVID-19 care packages.
“Instead of eating four dumplings, you can eat two now, and two three hours later,” she advised. “I am not telling you not to eat dumplings because, probably, that is all you have.”
NCDs are a major public health burden and the leading cause of death in Jamaica. Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton last year said it would cost the country some $77 billion over the next 13 to 15 years to deal with treatment and loss of productivity associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases alone.
Meanwhile, Dr Etienne said PAHO is finding innovative ways to provide safe health services for the people within the region.
“This pandemic, I am afraid, is going to be with us for some time, and we cannot afford to place in jeopardy the health gains that we have made in this region,” she said.