Double-disaster looming with Non-Communicable Diseases - CIRA
A surge in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) may trigger a double-disaster in Sri Lanka in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, says Contingency Intelligence & Response Agency (CIRA), a think-tank steering an overarching disaster prevention, mitigation and management mechanism in the SAARC region. While the corona virus pandemic has turned the country’s health system on its head, the chief contributor may just be that patients with underlying illness are reluctant to come to hospitals or are not able to do so due to ripple effects of the pandemic.
Reportedly, over 137,000 people died of NCDs in 2017 and chief among contributors were cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. Even though NCDs do not receive the hype of an unknown corona virus like the Covid-19, NCD mortality rate in Sri Lanka, according to Health Department statistics, is between 20%-30% higher than what is reported from developing countries. Add the numbers of other illnesses to this, the Covid-19 pandemic is precipitating another health disaster and must receive an urgent response from the authorities.
Compounding the issue may be a fear among people of going to hospitals as was previously customary due to the fear-psychosis created by the advent of the Conid-19 virus. Making an already worsening crisis is an interruption of medication schedules from difficulties arising from lockdowns, as well as, sudden financial meltdowns experienced by low-income earners.