Assessment of the socio-economic and health impact of COVID-19 in the NGO intervention areas of Gujarat

Abstract

A BSTRACT Background and Aim: By this time, the world has already witnessed catastrophic effects of the pandemic on economic and healthcare services infrastructure, from India the scientific publications documenting this effect are quite sparse. The current report aims to compile the socio-economic, demographic and healthcare services transactions among the population in the non-governmental organization (NGO) supported areas of Gujarat state. Methods: The data were collected by human research of the NGO from Sanand, Mundra and Ahmedabad sites at three different time intervals – pre-lockdown, during lockdown and post-lockdown. Results: The findings of the study reported a clear increase in availing of healthcare services in all three study sites covered under the programmes of the NGO. It was clearly evident that the impact of lockdown on the livelihood of the population in all three sites was devastating with a significant proportion of individuals losing their jobs. However, the majority of the people were able to rejoin the jobs (though with lower average income) in all three sites. During the lockdown, people heavily relied on stored food sources such as grains and pulses and consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits reduced significantly. Lockdown has severely hampered essential maternal and child care services which were remarkably improved in the months of post-lockdown. A considerable number of the family had to mortgage their assets during the lockdown. The mortgage proportion varied widely (3–58%) among all the study sites. Conclusion: It was observed that in the unprecedented time, the national lockdown was a challenging time, where there was a drastic shift in the livelihood profile of the population due to significant loss of jobs. Lockdown has also severely affected the essential healthcare services coverage; however, with efforts from the government and the NGO, it was restored to a near pre-lockdown situation in all three sites.