Purpose To advocate perspectives to strengthen existing healthcare systems to prioritize maternal health services amidst and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic in low-and middle income countries. Description COVID-19 directly affects pregnant women causing more severe disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The indirect effects due to the monumental COVID-19 response are much worse, increasing maternal and neonatal mortality. Assessment Amidst COVID-19, governments must balance effective COVID-19 response measures while continuing delivery of essential health services. Using the World Health Organization's operational guidelines as a base, countries must conduct contextualized analyses to tailor their operations. Evidence based information on different services and comparative cost-benefits will help decisions on trade-offs. Situational analyses identifying extent and reasons for service disruptions and estimates of impacts using modelling techniques will guide prioritization of services. Ensuring adequate supplies, maintaining core interventions, expanding non-physician workforce and deploying telehealth are some adaptive measures to optimize care. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, governments must reinvest in maternal and child health by building more resilient maternal health services supported by political commitmentand multisectoral engagement, and with assistance from international partners. Conclusions Multi-sectoral investments providing high-quality care that ensures continuity and available to all segments of the population are needed. A robust primary healthcare system linked to specialist care and accessible to all segments of the population including marginalized subgroups is of paramount importance. Systematic approaches to digital health care solutions to bridge gaps in service is imperative. Future pandemic preparedness programs must include action plans for resilient maternal health services.

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Background: Oral cancer is a major public health burden in India ranking third among cancers; about 90% of all oral cancers are oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a well-established oncogenic agent in the causation of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and an important risk factor for oropharyngeal SCC, but the link between HPV and OSCC is inconsistent. Knowledge of HPV profile in the OSCC has positive implications for treatment and prevention strategies. Methods: A case–control study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HPV status in 40 newly diagnosed OSCC cases (24 males; 16 females). Age- and gender-matched controls were recruited from the outpatient clinic of a large teaching hospital in Southern India. A questionnaire was used to ascertain the risk factors for OSCC. Using a cytobrush, epithelial cells were obtained from oral cancer lesions or normal mucosa in cases and controls, respectively. The HPV detection and genotyping were done using a real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. Results: Chewing tobacco was strongly associated with OSCC (odds ratio: 3.6; 95% confidence interval: 1.4–9.7), adjusted for potential confounding factors including smoking and alcohol consumption. All the OSCC cases and controls tested negative for HPV DNA. Conclusions: There is an inconsistency in the prevalence of HPV infection in OSCC in India. The prevalence of HPV in OSCC was nil, so the testing for HPV may be unnecessary. The inconsistency of the positivity of HPV in OSCC may be due to a wide palette of geographic and sociocultural differences that exist in the subcontinent. Further studies are, therefore, needed to evaluate the prevalence of HPV in OSCC in the subcontinent and plan optimal therapeutic strategies.

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