COVID-19 the latest epidemic in areas affected by disease
SULEIMAN KHEL, Pakistan — When Tariq Nawaz’s daughter was born a year ago, he borrowed money to pay for his wife’s cesarean delivery. Seven months later, they learned their baby had polio and sold the little bit of jewelry his wife had received for her wedding to pay mounting medical bills.
Then the new coronavirus pandemic struck Pakistan, prompting a countrywide lockdown. Still in debt, Nawaz lost his job, his monthly paycheck of $95 and the means to provide treatment for the baby’s polio.
“It’s all I can think of. I feel like my head is going crazy,” he said.
For millions of people like Nawaz who live in poor and troubled regions of the world, the novel coronavirus is only the latest epidemic. They already face a plethora of fatal and crippling infectious diseases: polio, Ebola, cholera, dengue, tuberculosis and malaria, to name a few.
The onslaught of infectious diseases is made worse by the many other threats in lives already overwhelmed by adversity. A crushing poverty leads to malnutrition and lack of medical care, and the violence of militants, gangs and government soldiers can make campaigns to fight disease more difficult.
Just when the Democratic Republic of Congo appeared to be nearing the end of its deadly Ebola epidemic this year, the first COVID-19 cases appeared.
“People here have been victims of attacks by Ugandan … rebels, Ebola and now COVID-19,” said 46-year-old physician Philémon Tsongo. “They are traumatized.”
In war-torn Yemen, there is growing concern that the fight against the recently arrived coronavirus will undercut the anti-cholera campaign. UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, needs at least $18 million through the end of the year to buy more supplies for water, sanitation and hygiene services, but it appears the money will go to fight COVID-19.
In Central America, Honduras has seen a steep climb in COVID-19 cases in the midst of a full-blown epidemic of dengue fever.
“The collapse of the health systems are imminent if these two illnesses continue rising,” said Dr. Carlos Umaña, president of the Social Security Doctors’ Association for northwest Honduras.
In Pakistan, where Nawaz lives, coronavirus cases are rising sharply. The country’s toll of above 113,000 coronavirus cases surpasses that of neighboring China, and at least 2,255 people in Pakistan have already died.
Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to suffer some of the world’s worst outbreaks of infectious diseases. It has 4.3 million cases of malaria annually, and is one of the top 10 countries for new cases of tuberculosis each year. It is also one of only three countries, including Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio is still endemic.