The guidelines issued by Ministry of health and family welfare should be re-written in the context of the current strains on the healthcare system. Explain (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 3 years
KEY POINTS
· The Health Ministry released its first COVID-19 management guidelines about a year ago.
· The initial treatment guidelines included hydroxychloroquine, which led to panic buying of the drug. Little was known in those initial months.
· While formulating national-level guidelines, the most important factors are strength of evidence, pricing, cost-effectiveness and social relevance.
· These guidelines not only disregard evidence, but also show the unawareness of policymakers about the struggles of the common populace and the importance of the aforementioned factors.
· The only benefit of convalescent plasma was shown in a small study from Argentina which demonstrated that plasma prevented progression to severe disease in mild cases when high-titre plasma was infused within three days of disease onset.
· Remdesivir, in shortage now, is being black-marketed across India, although it has no value in saving lives.
· With more than 80% of COVID-19 patients having only mild symptoms, patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may run out of inhalers.
· Absence of any mention of monoclonal antibodies from Regeneron or Eli Lilly in the guidelines, recommended by the National Institutes of Health.
· More treatment does not necessarily lead to better outcomes but will definitely lead to higher out-of-pocket expenditure and healthcare-related bankruptcies and debts.
