Community Based Management of COVID-19 as a Way Forward for Pandemic Response

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Sunil Kumar Panigrahi¹  Sagarika Majumdar²  Abhiruchi Galhotra¹  Santosh Chanbasappa Kadle³  Ashis Samuel John⁴ 

[1] Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences;District Health Services;Regional Technical Research Centre for Health Technology Assessment, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology

关键词: COVID-19;    community based management;    health system;    capacity;    pandemic response;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2020.589772

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began with reports of atypical pneumonia cases in the city ofWuhan in Hubei province of China, was declared a public health emergency of internationalsignificance by the WHO on January, 30 2020. The virus SARS COV2 has, to date, infected morethan 16 million people around the world and over 0.6 million people have succumbed to it. Thepandemic has affected more than 220 countries (1). Some of the most developed economies,with state of art healthcare systems and advanced diagnostic and critical care facilities, havebeen worst affected by the pandemic (2). Deaths among COVID-19 cases are not only becauseof the pathogenesis of the virus but also because of increases in patients, which overwhelmshealthcare institutions with unexpected surges in cases (3). Low and middle-income countriesin South East Asia and Africa with inadequate health capacity, may face dire consequences aftera surge of cases and loss of lives. Many international health agencies including the WHO haveadvised that “flattening the curve” and strengthening healthcare capacity can reduce the chances ofoverwhelming health systems (4).The response in India, a LMIC, has focused on interrupting the transmission of infectionthrough contact tracing, finding and isolating cases when they occur. The guidelines of the Ministryof Health recommends COVID care centers (CCC) be used for mild or very mild cases, separatededicated COVID health centers (DCHC) for moderate cases (pneumonia without any signs ofsevere disease), and dedicated COVID hospitals with ICU facility (DCH) for critical cases (5).

【 授权许可】

CC BY