Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virol. Jul 25, 2022; 11(4): 186-197
Published online Jul 25, 2022. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v11.i4.186
COVID-19 pandemic effects on the distribution of healthcare services in India: A systematic review
Nirav Nimavat, Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, Sundip Charmode, Gowthamm Mandala, Ghanshyam R Parmar, Ranvir Bhangu, Israr Khan, Shruti Singh, Amit Agrawal, Ashish Shah, Vishi Sachdeva
Nirav Nimavat, Department of Community Medicine, Dr. Kiran C Patel Medical College and Research Institute, Bharuch 392001, India
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail 1902, Bangladesh
Sundip Charmode, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rajkot 360006, Gujarat, India
Gowthamm Mandala, Independent Researcher, Centre Groove High School, Greenwood, IN 46143, United States
Ghanshyam R Parmar, Ashish Shah, Department of Pharmacy, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Vadodara 391760, India
Ranvir Bhangu, Department of Medical, Caribbean Medical University, Des Plaines, IL 60018, United States
Israr Khan, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad 999010, Pakistan
Shruti Singh, Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna 801507, India
Amit Agrawal, Department of Paediatrics, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal 462001, India
Vishi Sachdeva, Department of Medical, Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda 151009, India
Author contributions: Nimavat N, Hasan MM and Charmode S contributed to the study conception and design; Nimavat N, Hasan MM, Charmode S, Mandala G, Parmar GR and Bhangu R search the databases for literature and prepared the manuscript; Nimavat N, Khan I, Singh S, Agarwal A, Shah A and Sachdeva V prepared the final draft of the manuscript; all authors have read the final version of the manuscript and approved it.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Nirav Nimavat, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Dr. Kiran C Patel Medical College and Research Institute, New Civil Hospital Campus, Bharuch 392001, India. nkniraj1529@gmail.com
Received: December 28, 2021
Peer-review started: December 28, 2021
First decision: February 8, 2022
Revised: February 19, 2022
Accepted: June 26, 2022
Article in press: June 26, 2022
Published online: July 25, 2022
Processing time: 205 Days and 23.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought fundamental changes to our problems and priorities, especially those related to the healthcare sector. India was one of the countries severely affected by the harsh consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM

To understand the challenges faced by the healthcare system during a pandemic.

METHODS

The literature search for this review was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. We also used Reference Citation Analysis (RCA) to search and improve the results. We focused on the published scientific articles concerned with two major vital areas: (1) The Indian healthcare system; and (2) COVID-19 pandemic effects on the Indian healthcare system.

RESULTS

The Indian healthcare system was suffering even before the pandemic. The pandemic has further stretched the healthcare services in India. The main obstacle in the healthcare system was to combat the rising number of communicable as well as noncommunicable diseases. Besides the pandemic measures, there was a diversion of focus of the already established healthcare services away from the chronic conditions and vaccinations. The disruption of the vaccination services may have more severe short and long-term consequences than the pandemic’s adverse effects.

CONCLUSION

Severely restricted resources limited the interaction of the Indian healthcare system with the COVID-19 pandemic. Re-establishment of primary healthcare services, maternal and child health services, noncommunicable diseases programs, National Tuberculosis Elimination Program, etc. are important to prevent serious long-term consequences of this pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare system; Pandemic; India; Healthcare services

Core Tip: The interaction of the Indian healthcare system with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic was limited by restricted resources. Lack of infrastructure, low percentage of gross domestic product expenditure on health, and deficiency of skilled manpower play a critical role in the healthcare system to manage infectious diseases, noncommunicable diseases and maternal and child health services.