COVID 19 AND GLOBAL
HEALTH
Malaria kills
and 90
percent of these deaths occur in Africa. Delay in treatment can cause death in just
days, especially for children. Each year
in March, rains start falling in Uganda and bring mosquitoes and malaria. At the Catholic Hospital in Kitgum Uganda, consultation and treatment for malaria costs the equivalent of US$3.75. That requires three days of work at the basic
wage. Prevention with insecticide
treated nets has been disrupted as distribution has been stopped by travel
restrictions for the Covid pandemic. Annual malaria deaths had been
dropping in recent years but, according to
Dr.
Pedro L. Alonso, director of the World Health Organization’s global malaria
program,
“Covid-19 risks derailing all our
efforts and taking us back to where we were 20 years ago.”
At the same
time the rains brought malaria to Uganda, the Covid pandemic also began. Because of past experience with Ebola, Uganda
confronted the pandemic with effective public health measures. However, the economy is devastated by
lockdowns and now the biggest problem with accessing treatment for malaria is
lack of money. Fr. Dave Schwinghamer, MM
works in Kitgum and reports that those without money purchase malaria medicines
from less reputable sources for $0.25 or go without treatment until they become
very sick.
This pandemic
has also affected people living with HIV.
Recent reporting
shows this group has not become as sick with Covid as initially feared. They quickly followed public health guidelines
having learned from past experience with the HIV pandemic. Experts wonder if the treatment for HIV
offers some protection against the Covid virus and research is studying this.1
However, 25% of people with HIV can’t access the medicines they need each day
and some have been sharing their drugs to stretch out their supplies. These drugs are usually distributed on a
monthly basis and need to be taken properly to prevent the virus from
developing drug resistance. Some countries,
such as the Philippines, are considering dispensing medications for three to
six months intervals to avoid this problem.
80% of HIV drugs are produced by
eight Indian companies and some fear that these companies will increase the
cost of their product or will switch to producing more lucrative drugs used to
treat Covid.
But
perhaps the pandemic will most severely affect TB which kills 1.5
million people worldwide annually. TB is also spread from person to person
through respiratory droplets. Lockdowns
in the small, cramped living quarters of Brazilian favelas and informal
settlements in Nairobi will allow one person to spread the bacterium to 15
other people on average. The World
Health Organization (WHO) has received information from 121 countries reporting
a decrease in the number of patients attending TB clinics. A test called GeneExpert is regularly used to
diagnose TB. It can also amplify the
genetic material of the Covid virus. So, some clinics are now only using it to
look for the Covid virus rather than both organisms. Companies, such as Cepheid in California, have
switched from manufacturing TB tests to Covid tests because of financial gain. When diagnosis of TB is delayed, transmission
continues unabated. When treatment is
disrupted, TB resistance also develops and multidrug resistant (MDR) TB is
increasing. In June, the WHO changed the
treatment program for MDR TB from 20 months of injections to ten months of
pills, hoping that patients will better access the treatment they need.2
Social determinants will negatively impact
the health and lives of many, especially young girls. In Kenya, schools have been closed for the
remainder of 2020 and students will need to repeat the year. The number of teen age pregnancies is
increasing because girls are defiled at home, usually by men known to
them. In Tanzania these pregnant girls
will never be allowed to return to public school.4 Lockdowns reduce
access to immunizations and other public health measures to prevent
disease. They also impoverish people who
live on the small incomes they generate daily from small businesses. Food becomes scarce in both quality and
quantity.
An effective
and safe vaccine will be key to managing the pandemic and alleviating these knock-on
effects. The WHO plans to set terms
for a new pact entitled COVAX Global
Vaccines Facility by August 31, 2020. It aims to avoid ‘vaccine
nationalism’ by providing Covid vaccine distribution worldwide, targeting
health care workers and those most at risk. Vaccines will be delivered to 20%
of the populations of member nations as soon as vaccines become available.
The United
States has yet to provide leadership and funding for these global
strategies. On July 9, 2020 32 Senators
signed a bipartisan letter to Senate leadership calling for “emergency funding
for Covid 19 (that) includes a robust coordinated and sufficiently resourced international
response.” To date this legislation languishes in Congress. Dr.
Tedros Ghebrejesus, chief of the WHO advises, “For the world to
recover faster, it has to recover together, because it’s a globalized world:
the economies are intertwined. Part of the world or a few countries cannot be a
safe haven and recover.”
The U.S. Congress would do well to speed up its
response.
Faith in action: Urge Congress to provide foreign aid for COVID-19 recovery: https://bit.ly/MOGCaidCOVID
Faith in action: Urge Congress to provide foreign aid for COVID-19 recovery: https://bit.ly/MOGCaidCOVID
Let's end on a VERY happy note. On 26th August the WHO announced that wild virus polio has been eradicated from the continent of Africa!!! I was privileged to work on this campaign in Sudan and Kenya. Only two countries in the world, Afghanistan and Pakistan, still harbor the virus.
PEACE OF THE SEASON OF CREATION TO YOU
1st September - 4th October
It is the practice of Maryknoll Lay Missioners in Kenya
to pray and work for peace on the first of each month.
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