In light of what we learned with the Covid-19 outbreak, we can generally comment on the strength of healthcare services around the world. When we look at the number of cases and the number of deaths, we see that most developed countries are at the top. However, more importantly, it is seen that the countries are insufficient in the number of daily diagnostic tests for coronavirus outbreak despite all technological developments. Despite their billions of dollars of healthcare facilities and ultra-modern health technologies, even strong economies were found to be inadequate in protecting their citizens from the pandemic
I am from Germany and we have a comparably strong health system though we had less money spent on it than before. Now it shows that it is still way better than in Spain, Italy, France, Sweden or the UK (all very rich countries in relation to many regions of the world, mind).
The better funded the system the better suited to tackle a public health emergency case such as a global pandemic.
As one of our experts said: If a pandemic happens, the best place to be is Germany...
Well, or Singapore or Norway; any place where money and smart planning is available...
Many countries are not prepared.
In Covid-19 you need ICU beds with ventilators and trained personnel.
Well, Mali for example has four ( FOUR ) ventilatiors as a nation...
I share the same opinion of Carsten Weerth Germany presented an interesting model
Hi Omer Tontus , agree to your argument, very well said. The spread of pandemic Covid-19 and its management globally present interesting patterns. While many of the leading developed nations miserably failed to contain the pandemic, there are excellent cases of poor countries efficiently managing the crisis, by reducing the casualties significantly. In the first instance, this gives a clear signal that public healthcare systems need to be strengthened much more even in the developed countries. The interesting learning is that: 'Leaving public healthcare provisioning and management to the mercy of the market especially at times of crisis will only worsen the crisis, rather than ameliorating it'.
Sweden is currently seen as a bold EU apporach: they try not to work with a strict lockdown... They are working with advice to common sense...
And they have about 1,100 ICU beds for a population of about 10 Mio.
And currently about 600 ICU beds are taken.
It must be underlined that ICU beds and Hospitals are one focus and the other one is the homes of the elderly (here are many deaths documented in all countries, e.g. Spain/France/Italy/Germany/UK/USA)...
The EU is for most regions of the World seen as a weatlhy region...
But the EU is differing in terms of economic setup strongly...
Here I am sharing a list of ICU beds in the EU and the UK - strong differences are evident...
The underlying research is available here on RG
Article The variability of critical care bed numbers in Europe
In a global comparison per capita the US has a better ICU ratio than Germany, see statista.com
Crisis management as factor apart from ICU beds:
Agreed. In case your number of ICU beds available in a country is low you must have determined and rather strong government action (Lockdown/curfews/social spacing, etc.)...
Another lesson learned: do not only look for ICU beds but also for the homes of the elderly / the elderly in families.
It is in this risk group and settings that the most deaths occur in Italy/France/Spain/UK/US/Germany...
I believe the healthcare services around the world need more efforts.
In India, the healthcare provisioning is predominantly state-driven with state-run medical/ healthcare institutions spread around across states. Primary healthcare centres are available in the villages. Yet, the role of the private healthcare institutions is more dominant in critical healthcare management, most of which are located in the urban areas. Nevertheless, in the event of the outbreak and spread of Covid-19, the state-run hospitals have been in the forefront in managing the crisis. Most expenses involved in the process of the Covid treatment have been borne by the state, thus minimising the burden on the individuals.
not being an expert in the field, but... in this kind of new virus disease ( with wide-band forms - light high respiratory to systemic disease, to immunological late manifestations), not only ICU and ventilators and ecmo are needed - a strong public health and primary health care network are basics ( GP network in portugal is caring for the ones who don't need inhospital stay) - and in "first" world institutional classic risk settings ( schools, prisons, military) are joined for more recent and forgotten settings : hospitals, old folks homes, refugees, homeless shelters -
(and keeping calm in health professionals and structures is essential - panic doesn't help)
thanks
Covid-19 is a wake up call. This will definitely put health care at the top in the budget of emerging economies. Hopefully situation will improve .
I think that it is certain that nobody in the world either developed or developing countries are in any sense prepared to fight this pandemic because it had not given any clue to us. Undoubtedly, it has, and will cause huge loss to mankind on many grounds. the question that i want to flag here is, what kind of economic system we are following? This pandemic has taught us that survival is paramount over n above any thing in this world. I am not at all denying the importance of economic growth because it help us in many ways to grow. After this pandemic, we are able to understand agriculture is the most important area to put most of our focus.
It's beyond calculation and almost all failed by their routine management system. It's time for more health oriented actions.
We have already seen the crisis management of China, USA and EU countries. Different strategies were in different parts but all had to face initial crisis. We see even the use of aircraft carrier in USA.