Impact of COVID‐19 measures on the health and healthcare of children in East‐Africa: Scoping review

Salih, Ibrahim El; Njuguna, Festus; Widjajanto, Pudjo Hagung; Kaspers, Gertjan J.L.; Bailey, Ajay; Mostert, Saskia

doi:10.1002/hpm.3612

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 80 publications

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“…Indeed, when COVID-19 landed in Africa, governments were forced to redirect some resources from other health needs to contain the pandemic, which put pressure on some services like child and maternal care. 34 Staff shortages and deficits in health resources were also exposed as cumulative cases and deaths kept rising, placing a burden on the fragile healthcare systems in Africa. Compared to the Americas where there are 24.8 healthcare workers (HCWs) per 1000 population, Africa has 2.3 HCWs per 1000 population, which is significantly low even without the escalating COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Overburdening Of the Healthcare Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The pandemic and Africa: a review of the psychological, social, and nutritional impact of COVID-19 in Africa

Wei,

Fan,

Rizwan

et al. 2023

Int J Community Med Public Health

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COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the lives of populations across the world. Since the first reported case of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, the world faced a situation of dealing with a novel virus. While the physical health effects of the coronavirus were the center of focus for much of the pandemic, COVID-19 was accompanied with significant social, psychological and nutritional consequences on the world populations. Governments world over moved to contain the virus through nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) by implementing restrictions on social engagement, travel, curfews, and limiting school and workplace attendance. These NPIs significantly affected the vulnerable, low-income populations as they faced high levels of poverty, challenging living conditions, and already-existing inequality owing to disrupted day-to-day activities and social interactions. In this review, we aim to assess how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the African continent at large, highlighting the socio-psychological and nutritional consequences. The paper notes important social dimensions that faced the greatest disruptions and effects, with education being affected by school closures in Africa as across the world and resulting in learning losses for millions of school-going children. The workplace was also affected as reflected in the unemployment consequence where millions of adults lost their jobs due to suspended economic activity. Family and gender-based violence cases further emphasized the social consequences of the pandemic since lockdowns confined women and children to vulnerable environments and denied them access to protective services. The negative economic effects of the pandemic further worsened poverty and inequality for a population that was already in abject conditions. Moreover, there were issues related to the overburdening of a fragile healthcare system, psychological consequences associated with stress and depression and grief and loss, stigma and discrimination related to COVID-19 infection, and nutritional impacts covering food insecurity, malnutrition, and the effects on school feeding programs for children. Accordingly, through citing some examples of a few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the review will detail the experiences of the populations within this region which remain plagued with economic and health vulnerabilities that were further exposed by the pandemic.

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Section: Overburdening Of the Healthcare Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The pandemic and Africa: a review of the psychological, social, and nutritional impact of COVID-19 in Africa

Wei,

Fan,

Rizwan

et al. 2023

Int J Community Med Public Health

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Meta-review of child and adolescent experiences and consequences of food insecurity

Frongillo,

Adebiyi,

Boncyk

2024

Global Food Security

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Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022

Mostert,

Hoogland,

Huibers

et al. 2024

bmjph

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IntroductionExcess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic has been substantial. Insight into excess death rates in years following WHO’s pandemic declaration is crucial for government leaders and policymakers to evaluate their health crisis policies. This study explores excess mortality in the Western World from 2020 until 2022.MethodsAll-cause mortality reports were abstracted for countries using the ‘Our World in Data’ database. Excess mortality is assessed as a deviation between the reported number of deaths in a country during a certain week or month in 2020 until 2022 and the expected number of deaths in a country for that period under normal conditions. For the baseline of expected deaths, Karlinsky and Kobak’s estimate model was used. This model uses historical death data in a country from 2015 until 2019 and accounts for seasonal variation and year-to-year trends in mortality.ResultsThe total number of excess deaths in 47 countries of the Western World was 3 098 456 from 1 January 2020 until 31 December 2022. Excess mortality was documented in 41 countries (87%) in 2020, 42 countries (89%) in 2021 and 43 countries (91%) in 2022. In 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic onset and implementation of containment measures, records present 1 033 122 excess deaths (P-score 11.4%). In 2021, the year in which both containment measures and COVID-19 vaccines were used to address virus spread and infection, the highest number of excess deaths was reported: 1 256 942 excess deaths (P-score 13.8%). In 2022, when most containment measures were lifted and COVID-19 vaccines were continued, preliminary data present 808 392 excess deaths (P-score 8.8%).ConclusionsExcess mortality has remained high in the Western World for three consecutive years, despite the implementation of containment measures and COVID-19 vaccines. This raises serious concerns. Government leaders and policymakers need to thoroughly investigate underlying causes of persistent excess mortality.

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Impact of COVID‐19 measures on the health and healthcare of children in East‐Africa: Scoping review

Cited by 3 publications

References 80 publications

The pandemic and Africa: a review of the psychological, social, and nutritional impact of COVID-19 in Africa

The pandemic and Africa: a review of the psychological, social, and nutritional impact of COVID-19 in Africa

Meta-review of child and adolescent experiences and consequences of food insecurity

Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022

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