The Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare
The global healthcare market reached a value of $8.5 trillion and is estimated to grow to $11.9 trillion by 2022. The pandemic has introduced challenges for the sector, some of which are beyond simply treating Covid-19 patients. Environments have to be deep cleaned and sterilised between procedures, this introduces increased cost, inefficiencies and leads to extended waiting times when treatment is desperately needed. The pandemic has delivered a profound shock on a global scale and the future is far from predictable.
The changes imposed on healthcare systems to control the spread of COVID-19 have reached deep into people’s everyday lives, affecting job security, income and social interactions, factors that are essential to health and wellbeing. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that health services have been partially or entirely disrupted in many countries. Over half (53%) of the countries surveyed have partially or completely disrupted services for hypertension treatment; 49% for diabetes treatment and diabetes-related complications; 42% for treatment for cancer and 31% for cardiovascular emergencies. Researchers and innovators around the world and in the UK are urgently combining their skills, experience and expertise to find solutions across different healthcare systems and settings to combat the negative effects of the pandemic.
