New Delhi: With data provided by the National Health Authority showing a marked 20% fall in the number of critical non-COVID-19 procedures across the country since February this year, it appears that the lockdown has had an adverse impact on people’s access to medical care.
According to data accessed by the Indian Express from the NHA, there has been a 20% fall in treatment of 825 types of unique critical non-COVID-19 procedures in both private and government health facilities between February and April.
Due to this, fewer people have been able to access the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme that provides insurance cover for critical patients. A report in the newspaper said the number of procedures under the scheme fell from 1,51,672 in February to 1,93,679 in April.
The most significant fall was witnessed in cardiology-related procedures at 76%, followed by cancer-related procedures at 57% and obstetrics and gynaecology procedures at 26%. Overall, there are 21 categories of procedures and these include general surgery, medicine, urology and neurosurgery. The treatments are covered under packages in AB-PMJAY.
The report said emergency room packages for stay of less than 12 hours also dropped by 33% in the February to April period, showing a fall in people visiting the hospitals.
While COVID-19 generally impacts the respiratory system, there was a near 80% fall in people reporting to government and private hospitals with similar symptoms.
The findings have posed questions around the role being played by empanelled private hospitals, which are supposed to shoulder the burden of treatments like dialysis and chemotherapies, in this time of crisis.
With the easing of lockdown, as the country braces for a spike in COVID-19 case, it is being watched with intent if the 21,300 hospitals empanelled with AB-PMJAY were prepared to shoulder the burden of the healthcare system.
Private hospitals and institutions account for 51% of AB-PMJAY’s overall treatment but have seen a sharp fall in procedures and treatments during the past couple of months. The report quoted CEO, NHA and AB-PMJAY, Indu Bhushan, as saying: “While our total daily treatments have gone down by more than 50%, essential treatments like dialysis and chemotherapy have only gone down by 10-20%.”
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Stating that “around 70% of critical treatment like dialysis and chemotherapies were being provided by the private sector,” he added that the level of treatment being provided by them was “some consolation”. But, he added, “we were actually expecting them to increase because many of the government facilities are not providing them at the moment. The private hospitals empanelled with us should have been able to take over.”
Interestingly, the report also revealed, that there has been a sharp drop of 76% in treatment of respiratory ailments like Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses (SARI) and Influenza Like Illness (ILI) at private healthcare facilities and around 81% at public facilities.
On the probable reason, Bhushan said “one reason could include the fear of patients to step out of their houses during this time” and that “some hospitals may also have reduced their operations.”