Dataset Information

Food and healthcare accessibility during COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The pervasive effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have put the world to test. Its effects permeate all facets of life including healthcare services and food supplies. However, most empirical studies failed to investigate its effects on the prices of food and healthcare services, which by all standards, are essential commodities. On this background, this study evaluates the impact of COVID-19 reported cases and lockdown stringency measures on the food and healthcare prices in the six (6) worst-affected countries. For empirical purposes, daily prices of food and healthcare services between 22^nd January and 31^st December 2020 were regressed against daily cases of COVID-19 and lockdown stringency measures within the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag procedure. Empirical evidences reveal that prices of healthcare and food are cointegrated with COVID-19 cases and lockdown measures in all the selected countries except Italy. Equally, healthcare and food prices reinforced itself in the long-run in the US, the UK and France. Furthermore, COVID-19 cases lead to significant increases in food and healthcare prices in the US, whereas, food and healthcare prices in France and UK declined significantly as COVID-19 cases mount. Conversely, food and healthcare prices declined significantly in the US and soar in France and the UK in reactions to COVID-19 new cases. Likewise, government stringency measures and containment health measures contributed significantly to healthcare and food price hike in the US and France respectively. Meanwhile, healthcare and food prices in the other selected countries remained unaffected even as the pandemic ravages. Following this empirical discoveries, relevant policy guidelines have been communicated.

SUBMITTER: Uche E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8691956 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV2 has seriously impacted the global economy. Medical facilities around the world were not prepared for the enormous challenges posed by the growing number of patients each day, the shortage of personal protective equipment, and insufficient numbers of medical staff. Governments have tried to counteract the impact of the pandemic, but the measures taken have not always been sufficient to maintain access to and quality of health services at the same level as before the pandemic. The disruption of health services has resulted in more and more research reports from different parts of the world on the accessibility of health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This review article presents 21 selected scientific studies on access to health services in different regions of the world. Articles were found in PubMed, GoogleScholar, Medline, and ScienceDirect databases, then grouped, and significant data were extracted from each article. The results were summarized in a table. Results: The range of limited health services included a variety of specialties, including primary care, psychiatry, orthopedics, cardiology, neurosurgery, and more. Methods used in the studies were based on retrospective analysis or on the subjective assessment of patients in the form of a questionnaire or interview. Most authors claimed a decrease in accessibility to health services during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, including a decrease in planned surgeries, doctor appointments, patient admission to hospital or ER, and access to medicines. Additionally, some authors observed an increase in the mortality rate. One of the few medical services that have expanded rapidly during the pandemic was online appointments. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has most certainly affected the accessibility of health services worldwide. Lessons should be learned to prevent inaccessibility to medical services, especially as experts predict another wave of COVID-19 cases.

Dataset Information

Food and healthcare accessibility during COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets