IIT-Madras research calls for greater govt investment in healthcare sector

CHENNAI: A study by Indian Institute of Technology - Madras has called for greater government investment in public healthcare to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the elderly.

The current pandemic poses a greater risk of social isolation among the elderly, which may lead to greater adverse health impact.

The poor among the elderly would suffer more than others. As a result, their access to regular primary healthcare services and continuity of care that is essential for those suffering from non-communicable diseases, given their dependency and lack of mobility, may have worsened further during this pandemic.

Overall, given the evidence on the possible hardships that the elderly may have already gone through during the pandemic and hardships that they may face in the future, the importance of strengthening the public health care system cannot be over-emphasized, the researchers opine.

Based on the 75th round of the

National Sample Survey

(

NSS

) 2017-18, only 18.9% of the elderly had health insurance and therefore they may not be able to bear large expenditures on health; and 27.5% of people whose age is 80 years or above are immobile and 70% of elders are partially or wholly financially dependent on others.

Elaborating on the important findings of the study, V R Muraleedharan, department of humanities and social sciences,

IIT-Madras

, said, “Our research highlights ways in which the elderly may have suffered even due to Covid-19 control measures, such as social/physical distancing that could increase depression, and lead to a higher chance of inflammatory response in the elderly. There are several such ailments specific to the vulnerable elderly population. These are highlighted empirically, supported by other studies carried out in other country settings during the current pandemic.”

The researchers want to extend the result of this study to a policy. They plan to carry out detailed surveys among the elderly population particularly in Tamil Nadu, especially to design effective rehabilitative care which is almost absent in India’s public healthcare system.


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