Addressing the Needs of People with Schizophrenia in South Africa During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Research indicates that most people with Schizophrenia from low to middle-income countries do not receive adequate healthcare. Inadequate policies, lack of funding, poor service planning and neglect are some barriers to adequate care. Intrinsic barriers to care include stigma, lack of insight, and pathways to care that are often driven by cultural beliefs, and many systemic challenges. South Africa was not spared from the scourge of COVID-19, hosting a third of all reported cases in Africa. In a country with disparities, it would be of interest to get insight into the situation concerning the healthcare needs of people with Schizophrenia during the pandemic. A pandemic such as COVID-19 placed enormous strains on already limited and unequally distributed health care resources. In this paper, we discuss: 1. The South African healthcare system (with respect to Schizophrenia care). 2. COVID-19 policies related to the care of people with Schizophrenia (testing, access to vaccine) 3. Managing people with Schizophrenia amid the COVID-19 pandemic 4. Recommendations.

Clinical characteristics of people presenting with first episode psychosis pre‐ and during the COVID‐19 pandemic in KwaZulu‐Natal Province, South Africa

“…Delays in accessing treatment may have been expected due to a fear of getting infected or due to to social restrictions, potentially resulting in a longer DUP (Thela et al, 2022). However, in this study, there was no significant difference in the median DUP between the cohorts, which is in contrast to a postulated longer DUP in an Australian first episode incidence study (O'Donoghue et al, 2022).…”

Caregiver burden and its sociodemographic determinants in family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia attending a psychiatric tertiary hospital in South Africa

“…4 In South Africa, the exact prevalence of schizophrenia is unknown. 5 However, the data from the 2019 global burden of schizophrenia shows that South African region has the following estimates: age-standardised prevalence 220–260, incidence 13–15, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) 140–160 rates per 100 000. 6 The same data show an increase in the burden of schizophrenia, and that the global estimates with 95% uncertainty interval were age-standardised prevalence 287.41 (246.16–330.88), incidence 16.31 (13.80–19.42) and DALYs 184.15 (134.32–234.54) rates per 100 000.…”