COVID-19 effects on national health system response to a local epidemic: the case of cerebrospinal meningitis outbreak in Ghana

Mensah, Derrick; Asampong, Robert; Haynes, Paul A.; Ayanore, Martin Amogre

doi:10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.35.2.23031

Cited by 6 publications

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“…Healthcare access disruption refers to difficulty with obtaining or using needed healthcare in proportion to the healthcare needs [1,2]. The delivery of healthcare services was significantly disrupted during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic [3][4][5][6]. Restrictions on movement and business operation resulted in the disruption of access to routine and emergency communicable and non-communicable diseases hospital management [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-country survey on access to healthcare and treatment services among individuals with critical medical care needs during the first wave of the pandemic

et al. 2023

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Background Healthcare services were significantly interrupted during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study was to determine the associations between sociodemographic factors and healthcare access during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals with critical care needs. Methods This was a secondary analysis of the data of 5,156 participants recruited from 152 countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dependent variables were self-reported difficulty of access to health care, challenges with obtaining medication, and the use of alternative medical services. The independent variables were age at last birthday; sex at birth, level of education, employment status and the macro-social vulnerability status. The confounding variable was the country income level. Three multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the associations between the dependent variables and the independent variables after adjusting for the confounder. Results Difficulty accessing health care services and obtaining medications was experienced by 1922 (37.3%) and 3746 (72.7%) participants respectively. Also, 1433 (27.8%) used alternative medical care. Retirees (AOR:1.59), unemployed (AOR:1.198), people living with HIV (AOR:2.36) and at increased risk of COVID-19 (AOR:2.10), people who used drugs (AOR:1.83) and transacted sex (AOR:1.971) had significantly higher odds for reporting difficulty with access to health care. Males (AOR:1.23), respondents with secondary level of education (AOR:1.39), retirees (AOR:2.19), unemployed (AOR:1.47), people living with HIV (AOR:2.46), people who used drugs (AOR:1.79), transacted sex (AOR:2.71) and those who might be (AOR: 1.66) and were at (AOR: 2.3) increased risk of severe COVID-19 had significantly higher odds for reporting difficulty with access to medications. People who used drugs (AOR:2.093) transacted sex (AOR:1.639), who might be (AOR: 1.211) and were at (AOR: 1.511) increased risk of severe COVID-19, and who had difficulty accessing usual healthcare (AOR: 9.047) and obtaining medications (AOR:2.16) had significantly higher odds of reporting alternative medical care use. People living with HIV (AOR:0.562) had significantly lower odds of using alternative medical care. Conclusion We identified populations who had challenges with access to healthcare and obtaining medications used alternative medical care except for people living with HIV. Priority attention should be given to alternative medical care use during future health pandemics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-country survey on access to healthcare and treatment services among individuals with critical medical care needs during the first wave of the pandemic

et al. 2023

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“…However, until effective treatment, cures or vaccines are found for the different strains of the virus, no one is truly safe. Especially in Ghana with its under-funded, under-equipped and fragile public health system, where there is still a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection (World Health Organization 2017), with sporadic outbreaks of H5N1 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2015), seasonal outbreaks of Lassa Fever, and lately, Meningitis (Mensah et al 2020). 5 Not to mention the ongoing malaise of malaria, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, as well as hepatitis among its population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ghana in COVID-19 pandemic

Khoo

2020

Inter-Asia Cultural Studies

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“…During pandemics, social and economic disruptions impact on mental health and wellbeing ( 5 , 6 ). In addition, the existence of a pandemic may cause low priority actions for local epidemics, as the case in Ghana ( 7 ) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when health systems were yet adjusting to deal with the pandemic. To address QoL inequalities during pandemics, social protection policies that identify and prioritize vulnerable groups and provide safety nets to meet social needs such as housing, loneliness, job, and welfare losses can assist address psychosocial health needs and bridge health inequalities in the population.…”

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confidence: 99%

Editorial: World health day 2022: Impact of COVID-19 on health and socioeconomic inequities

Ayanore

Adegboye

Amu

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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COVID-19 effects on national health system response to a local epidemic: the case of cerebrospinal meningitis outbreak in Ghana

Cited by 6 publications

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A multi-country survey on access to healthcare and treatment services among individuals with critical medical care needs during the first wave of the pandemic

A multi-country survey on access to healthcare and treatment services among individuals with critical medical care needs during the first wave of the pandemic

Ghana in COVID-19 pandemic

Editorial: World health day 2022: Impact of COVID-19 on health and socioeconomic inequities

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