Hidden Victims Of The Pandemic: Blood Bank Stocks Run Low As India’s Healthcare System Buckles
As public healthcare resources are redirected to halt the spread of coronavirus, victims of other life-threatening diseases pay the ultimate price.
This recent news story, published by The Telegraph, depicts the severe implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on several patients with thalassaemia in India, where healthcare services are pushed to capacity due to the exceptional situation. As a result, patients, especially in rural areas, are left helpless with no blood transfusions and no access to hospitals, since many of them have been designated as COVID19-specific hospitals.
“There are no facilities open for the treatment of my disease and thus it is becoming a struggle to even stay alive,” said Sheikh Aman Ahmed, 38, a thalassaemia sufferer from Jharkhand, who has developed hepatitis C after being unable to acquire blood transfusions.
Public health activists fear India is on the verge of an unprecedented number of deaths from thalassaemia, if the Indian Government does not react.
Read the Full News Report from The Telegraph HERE.
