Cape Town - Primary health-care services were significantly reduced at the height of the pandemic, and this will have a long-term impact for those who missed immunisations, follow-up appointments and scheduled non-emergency treatment, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said.
Mbombo said: “Services such as immunisation, the treatment of mental health, TB and HIV were significantly reduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I am particularly concerned about a reduction in essential and basic primary health-care services including a 22% reduction in immunisations and a 36% reduction in screening for TB,” said Mbombo.
She was reacting to news that the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) is participating in an international study to measure the unanticipated opportunity costs of South Africa’s Covid-19 response for children, mothers and people living with non-communicable diseases.
Director of the SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, Karen Hoffman, said: “The team will focus its analyses on the critically important area of missed opportunities of health-care access in South Africa - the country with the majority of Covid-19 cases on the continent.”
“This research will influence policy in future epidemic outbreaks, ensuring the best health care for all,” said Hoffman.
“While one critical aspect of this study is to measure the impact of redirecting resources from routine health services, it also aims to find out what the public and health workers think about this issue.”
SAMRC spokesperson Dumile Mlambo said: “The South African leg of the of the initiative will also investigate how Covid-19 has impacted the supply and demand of routine health services, specifically those related to non-communicable diseases, as well as maternal and child health, in both urban and rural settings.”
The full study spans more than 18 countries across Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and will also cover topics such as transmission and infection control, and how people are affected by the disease in different settings and their long-term outcomes, including the risk of neurological problems.
Chairperson of the standing committee on health, Wendy Philander, said the pandemic created an opportunity to innovate.
“From a demand perspective, the provincial Department of Health successfully delivered 800000 medicine parcels to the vulnerable with existing medical conditions who were unable to collect routine medication,” said Philander.
Meanwhile, Mbombo will today launch the #vulimpilo campaign at the Eerste River Hospital.
Mbombo’s spokesperson Nomawethu Sbukwana said: “This is a drive to reintegrate comprehensive health services into the system.”
Cape Argus