Lancet COVID-19 Commission Statement on the occasion of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly

Abstract

The Lancet COVID-19 Commission was launched on July 9, 2020, to assist governments, civil society, and UN institutions in responding effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission aims to offer practical solutions to the four main global challenges posed by the pandemic: suppressing the pandemic by means of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions; overcoming humanitarian emergencies, including poverty, hunger, and mental distress, caused by the pandemic; restructuring public and private finances in the wake of the pandemic; and rebuilding the world economy in an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable way that is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Many creative solutions are already being implemented, and a key aim of the Commission is to accelerate their adoption worldwide.

Macrolevel association of COVID-19 with non-communicable disease risk factors in India

“…Little is, however, known regarding macrolevel association of NCD risk factors and diseases on COVID-19 burden and mortality. A significant association of aging with adverse outcomes in COVID-19 has been reported in China, Europe and USA [ 1 ]. In India a study reported heightened adverse events among the elderly using a modeling algorithm [ 32 ].…”

“…In the present study, association of COVID-19 with sociodemographic factors such as urbanization and other indices of development and better healthcare access and quality indices could indicate better diagnosis of the condition in these locations [ 1 ]. In lesser developed states of the country as well as rural areas of India it is likely that the condition is not diagnosed due to lack of access to quality healthcare [ 42 ].…”

“…Possible gaps in COVID-19 data from India has been highlighted [ 44 ]. Other limitations of our analyses are absence of detailed readily available cause-specific morbidity and mortality data, lack of population based registries of COVID-19 cases and deaths, absence of concurrent mortality data to evaluate excess deaths from COVID-19 and absence of other collinear data [ 1 ].…”

“…There is strong association of COVID-19 with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors [ 1 ]. Multiple studies from across the globe have reported that individuals with established coronary heart disease, heart failure, chronic respiratory, renal or liver disease and cancers or their risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and other vascular risk factors are at greater risk of acquiring infection and developing complications and deaths from COVID-19 [ [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] ].…”

Estimate of the actual number of COVID-19 cases from the analysis of deaths

“…Argentina is close to the lower limit, with only 2.4 tests/cc, which corresponds to a positivity in the order of 40%. [1].…”