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Under The Radar: The Other Health Crises of 2020

For very obvious reasons, since Covid-19 came onto the world stage, it has taken up a lot of space in the news, and in people’s minds. It has been a serious threat to human life. However we must remember that it is not the only threat, and that other diseases have possibly only grown stronger since the epidemic began. 

TB, HIV, and Malaria are very common diseases, especially in poorer parts of the world. Treatment for them can be hard to acquire in some places at the best of times, and these aren’t the best of times. The current epidemic is sucking up most of the world’s medical resources, and the accompanying economic crisis is making it all more expensive. Some predictions put up to an additional 500,000 HIV deaths, and over 300,000 Malaria deaths this year due to the stresses Covid has brought on(2). 

Another effect of the crisis is the stress put on lupus patients. In the past few months, there was a sort of craze among certain people who believed the drug Hydroxychloroquine would be a treatment for Covid-19, despite the lack of substantial evidence to that effect. However, Hydroxychloroquine has been proven to be an effective treatment for lupus patients. The mass buying of the drug by those without lupus has brought fear of shortages for those who need it, as well as a large price increase that could put it out of reach for some(3).

Then there’s the ever present danger of the modern world, cancer. A study released just within the past week has stated that the amount of diagnosis for certain, common cancers has significantly decreased since the start of the epidemic(1). And since it’s very unlikely that cancer just decided to just slow down and wait while we were dealing with Covid, that means that a large number of cancer cases are going undiagnosed. This is likely due to the danger inherent in going to a medical center in the past few months, the neglecting of regular check ups, the doctors of the world needing to focus more on Covid patients, and other related reasons. It’s important to keep in mind that catching and diagnosing a cancer as early as possible significantly increases the chance of a person surviving. 

It seems that when all is said and done, the toll will be much higher than just the deaths from Covid-19.

 

Works Cited:

1)Kaufman HW, Chen Z, Niles J, Fesko Y. Changes in the Number of US Patients With Newly Identified Cancer Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(8):e2017267. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.17267

 

2)Mandavilli, Apoorva. “Resurgent Diseases Prowl in the Shadow of Coronavirus.” Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 7 Aug. 2020, www.startribune.com/resurgent-diseases-prowl-in-the-shadow-of-coronavirus/572033342/?refresh=true.

 

3)Mehta, Bella, et al. “Potential Shortages of Hydroxychloroquine for Patients with Lupus During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.” JAMA Health Forum, American Medical Association, 10 Apr. 2020, jamanetwork.com/channels/health-forum/fullarticle/2764607.

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36 Comments

  1. This is a really interesting topic and something I hadn’t considered. When we look at health care today, all we see are the issues related to COVID-19. The news has focused on hospitals being overwhelmed, nurses and doctors lacking adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and more. Recently, when someone hears about other health issues on the news, it is only to say that these people are more at risk of contracting a life-threatening case of COVID-19, not that people with these conditions are suffering more due to a lack of attention and resources.
    You do a really great job of demonstrating the correlation between these health issues and COVID-19. As I was reading, I couldn’t help but wonder since COVID-19 will likely be very prevalent in our lives for months or years to come, what can politicians, the public, or health care workers do to help people dealing with these health issues? And what should be done to dissuade fears about going to see doctors, so diseases such as cancer are not going undiagnosed?

  2. It is vital to bear in mind that finding and identifying cancer in its earliest stages significantly enhances a patient’s chance of trap the cat surviving the disease. This is something that should not be forgotten.

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