Covid-19’s post world promises many changes

The sudden shock caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 has changed the world unexpectedly in many ways. A world that was busy building geopolitical strategies, investing in advanced weapons and customs wars, suddenly knelt on an unknown enemy.

Among many, this pandemic reminded us of our priorities. According to research group SIPRI, military spending in 2018 was 2.1% of world gross domestic product (GDP), or US$239 per person. The world government spends more on healthcare than the military on average, but the higher spending on the latter underscores the “opportunity cost” or lost spending on health and social development. Analysis shows that India spends about five times more on defense than health care.

Apart from the above realizations, pandemics have created the potential threats of a globalized world and the need to be better prepared to deal with them. As the world turns out to be completely unprepared to fight this kind of war, some policy revisions and resets are expected in the near future. It is also expected to make a big leap forward in the adoption of future digital technology, automation, and AI-based tools in healthcare.

To the contactless future

As much as the Covid-19 crisis reminds us of apocalyptic Hollywood films, it is guiding us straight from the imagination of science fiction to the future. This crisis has spurred us into a future that is “contactless” in many ways. Automated disease screening kiosks, facial recognition technology, and unattended reception facilities are part of this futuristic global design. As social distance requirements are likely to remain, communities and organizations are expected to increasingly adopt “contactless” methods of performing their daily functions. Working from home and studying at home are already mainstream. Google and Facebook have announced an extension of their remote work policy until 2021. The famous Indian IT giant has already planned a future where it is not necessary to have more than 25% of the workforce in the office. Similarly, home delivery of groceries is likely to be the norm, distance education is likely to be more common, and remote doctor visits may be new normals.

Healthcare reaches its deadline

Crisis will also have long-term implications for government and cross-national policy making. The need for a more robust medical infrastructure has been the most important learning since this time, due to overwhelmed hospitals, burned out health care workers, and a lack of intensive care facilities that highlight the shortcomings of the medical system. It is time for this approach to change, with the growing awareness that health care is undervalued due to lack of funding. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, governments around the world have already promised to increase health care costs as a percentage of GDP. However, the Covid-19 crisis underscores the need to completely change our approach to healthcare.

Incorporating Covid-19 as a lesson in dealing with future pandemics shows that mortality rates have declined in countries such as Germany with very good intensive care units. Similarly, Cuba, which has the highest proportion of doctors in the population, has extensively volunteered to support countries involved in the epidemic. This shows that a healthy doctor-patient ratio, backed by a universal healthcare system, robust primary care facilities, and well-equipped emergency and intensive care services can help improve these pandemic efforts. I will.

Despite its scarce resources, India has so far demonstrated excellent resilience in coping with the disease. Together with secondary and tertiary health care networks, our primary health care professionals are at the forefront of disease containment measures by supporting testing and monitoring. But this experience should drive us towards a future where universal health care is a reality rather than a slogan. We need to aim to increase the number of doctors and specialists per 1000 population, increase eICU, and evenly distribute healthcare facilities. Policy makers also need to start using predictive analytics reports for both infectious and non-communicable diseases to ensure a more robust and clear healthcare budget.

Digital health becomes mainstream

In recent years, digital healthcare and telemedicine services have been pushed to the forefront. Telehealth services have suddenly become mainstream as hospitals have suspended non-urgent OPDs and facilitated remote consultations. In response to this trend, governments around the world have acted swiftly to remove the negative barriers to the use of telemedicine. The US Government has announced that it will extend its state insurance coverage to include telemedicine facilities. The Government of India has provided legal support to telemedicine by issuing and notifying the first ever official guidelines governing telemedicine practice. These situations helped unleash behavioral changes in the majority of the population. Even doctors who were previously unfamiliar with telemedicine technology are now being hired immediately. For patients who have experienced the benefits and benefits of telemedicine, this can now be a lifelong practice, even if the outbreak declines.

Digitization also redefines some other aspects of healthcare. With the increasing use of digital tools such as medical kiosks and facial recognition systems, people can walk into chatbots everywhere and discuss health parameters. Some hospitals have already installed a kiosk at the entrance to check their health before entering the room. The expansion of adoption of heat shield systems at airports and railway stations is also noticeable. The Covid-19 pandemic has also accelerated the adoption of AI-assisted digital surveillance systems in hospitals to monitor patient parameters such as temperature, heart rate, and oxygen saturation. Such digital and automated surveillance systems could also become standard.

Driving force for medical research

All eyes are focused on medical research facilities as the world awaits coronavirus vaccines and new therapeutic routes. Despite its importance, this pandemic reminded us that medical research remains underfunded. There are also large regional differences, with medical researchers in high-income countries 40 times more than the average in low-income countries.

Budget allocations to healthcare in India have increased since the introduction of the Ayushman Bharat program, but spending on medical research has not seen a significant increase. The quota for research increased slightly from Rs 1727 in 2019 to Rs 2100 in 2009. When Occurrence reminding us Medical research will be facilitated in the near future due to the need for strong research capabilities.

The use of AI, robotics and big data in healthcare is expanding exponentially

The Covid-19 pandemic reminded us that we need to leverage artificial intelligence and big data to strengthen our disease prediction and prevention systems. It is worth mentioning here. A Canadian predictive analytics startup using an AI-powered platform predicted an outbreak of Covid-19 in late December, nine days before WHO first warned of its emergence. The platform discovered a group of “abnormal pneumonia” occurring in Wuhan and alerted clients to the imminent outbreak. This is the way to the future. The greater use of AI-assisted technologies with data analytics to analyze, predict, and manage such outbreaks could also serve more.

Robotic surgery is new and normal as hospitals seek investment in technology that minimizes the risk of infection, improves accuracy, speeds recovery, and shortens patient stay Will be. The use of UAVs in healthcare is another futuristic leap in Anvil. Drones can be used to deliver emergency equipment and drugs, transport organs for transplantation, collect samples for diagnostics, and reach remote patients in need of medical care.

That being said, it is important to understand that digital technology is an enabler and enhances existing healthcare systems. It cannot substitute for a functional and robust public health care system and is not effective in areas with limited or no Internet access. Therefore, our top priority in the contactless future is to establish a functional universal health care system that is accessible to all.