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Fiocruz points out a deficiency in the treatment of other diseases during the pandemic

The fight against the Covid-19 pandemic hindered care for other diseases in Brazil. The information is contained in a technical note issued by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation this Tuesday (9). According to Fiocruz, from January 2020 to June 2021, 1.7 million fewer admissions were registered than in a pre-pandemic period (between January 2018 and June 2019). Only with regard to elective admissions, the difference is 1.2 million.

The data presented in the document show that the periods in which the highest volumes of deaths from Covid-19 occurred coincide with the highest volumes of deaths from other causes, and also coincide with the lowest volumes of care in different systems. In an excerpt of the study, experts say that “the drop in the number of inpatient visits may have influenced both the excess of deaths observed, as well as bringing other long-term problems.”

According to the researchers, “Covid-19 had the capacity to collapse health systems, and one of the most evident consequences of this process is the assessment of excess mortality caused by the disease, especially in periods of higher occurrence of deaths when the system had serious problems to serve the entire population.”

Among the examples listed of the effects of over-targeting care in the Unified Health System (SUS) network to Covid-19, to the detriment of other diseases, were the drops in care due to glaucoma and cataract. Despite being elective surgeries, if performed at the right time, they prevent the disease from getting worse. However, without proper treatment, they can have indirect impacts, such as blindness.

In the conclusion of the document, the researchers state that “the observation of data from different information systems helps to understand the scenario of lack of assistance in health that the country faced during the Covid-19 epidemic, and the enormous liability of care that was repressed and we’ll have to face it.”

Fiocruz also points out that the drop in prevention and health promotion actions had already decreased in periods prior to the Covid-19 epidemic. And it affirms the need for massive investment in SUS to identify problems that could not be diagnosed. The researchers also point to the need to monitor the long-term indirect impacts arising from Covid-19, especially in cases that could not be addressed in a timely manner. And remember that, if the disease returns to an increase in the number of cases, we will be able to observe again the increase in mortality in situations of lack of assistance.

Reference: CNN Brasil

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