COVID-19 Interferes with Health Services Worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) says COVID-19 has interfered¹ with necessary health services in almost every country. It says low- and middle-income nations are affected² the most by the crisis.

In May, WHO officials sent a list of questions about the crisis to health officials in 159 countries. Officials in 105 countries answered over the next three months. The WHO says 90 percent of them reported at least some interference in at least one of 25 necessary services.

More than 50 percent reported interference with the ability to find and treat cancer. Malaria³ programs were affected in almost half of the countries. Tuberculosis⁴ programs were affected in more than 40 percent of countries, and HIV treatment in 33 percent.

Almost half of low-income countries reported interference in at least 75 percent of their necessary health services. Four percent of high-income countries reported this level of interference.

The services most commonly affected were immunization programs, with interference reported in 70 percent of the 105 countries. Identification and treatment of diseases that do not spread person to person, such as diabetes⁵, were affected in 69 percent of countries. Family planning services were affected in 68 percent, and mental health treatment services in 61 percent of reporting countries.

Interference in critical emergency services was reported in about 25 percent of the countries that answered the questions.

The "great majority" of interference reported affected between 5 and 50 percent of services.

A WHO statement said that even strong health systems can be quickly weakened by the spread of COVID-19.

North America, South America and countries in the Caribbean were not included in the WHO research. The organization said this was because of the high rates of coronavirus spread and limited capacities in those areas at the time of the study.

The new information is the most detailed⁶ examination of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on health services.

Interference in most HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programs in low-income countries supported by The Global Fund have been reported. One study estimated that deaths from HIV over the next five years could increase by 10 percent, as a result. It said that tuberculosis deaths might rise by 20 percent, and malaria by 36 percent.

The WHO report says countries are beginning to make changes to how they operate health services. Telemedicine – professional health care provided over a computer or phone -- is on the rise. And about half of countries have found new ways to get medicine to patients.

Efforts to document and learn from what works in different settings "are urgently required," the report said.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

capacity – n. the ability to hold or contain people or things

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments, business, etc

immunization – n. treatment as with a vaccine to produce immunity to a disease

1 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

4 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。