FIRST UN URGES STRONGER COVAX SUPPORT APAC
AsiaPac hospitals brace for patient backlogs
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APAC
India’s Covaxin
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he United Nations’ (UN) refugee agency has urged for an “immediate and stronger support” for the global COVAX initiative for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, amidst vaccine shortages especially in the Asia Pacific region, according to a date of news release. Although Asia Pacific countries host the vast majority of more than 80 million forcibly displaced people around the globe, they have benefited from only a fraction of the world’s COVID-19 inoculations, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “UNHCR is adding its voice to the calls for countries with surplus doses to donate to COVAX, and for manufacturers to boost supplies to the COVAX facility,” said UNHCR SpokespersonAndrej Mahecic. Included in its regular budget, UNHCR’s total financial requirements for COVID include $455m in supplementary needs and $469m in COVID-related activities. To date, including projected contributions, UNHCR has received $252.8m or only 27% of these financial requirements. Concern over the situation in the region continues to rise as the number of cases has surged to the largest increase globally. UNHCR stressed that the pandemic will only be defeated when vaccinations are available everywhere “on an equitable basis.” Some 38 million COVID-19 cases have been recorded along with more than half a million deaths. “The lack of hospital beds, oxygen supplies, limited intensive care unit capacities and scarce health facilities and services have worsened outcomes for those infected with COVID-19, particularly in India and Nepal,” said Mahecic. Amidst overcrowded settings, limited water and lack of sanitation facilities, refugees remained at risk of COVID-19. Mahecic noted that there has been a rise in COVID-19 cases amongst refugees and asylum-seekers in Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 6
HEALTHCARE ASIA
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ospitals across the Asia Pacific have expressed plans to cope with the backlog of deferred procedures, following a downturn in elective surgeries and patient consultations for the past year resulting from the pandemic, according to a report from L.E.K. Consulting. In Australia, the return of patients to hospitals has caused higher wait times to between 240 and 365 days for nonurgent elective surgeries. Hospitals have been looking to their business partners to help with these types of challenges: a third of respondents ranked improving efficiency as one of the top three areas for which they are looking to medtech companies for help. “This is in line with overall priorities, as 52% of hospitals indicated improving labour efficiency to be a top five priority. Hospitals have also indicated the increased use of digital solutions,” the report stated. The pandemic-driven downturn in elective surgeries and patient consultations has affected hospital revenues, and there are still uncertainties surrounding patient volumes in the future, as hospitals are unable to predict possible future surges that may cause a change of operational posture and priorities. “As a consequence, this year also saw a reduction in planned capital expenditure for medical devices and equipment, especially for diagnostic imaging equipment, and to a lesser extent clinical support appliances. Compared with last year’s survey, fewer hospitals expect an increase in capital expenditure over the next three years,” the report added. Compared with last year’s report, fewer hospitals expect an increase in capital expenditure over the next three years. However, this is not true across all medical device categories, as nearly seven out of 10 of those surveyed are looking to spend more on medical consumables, up from five out of 10 in the previous year.
The return of patients has caused higher wait times for non-urgent elective surgeries
The pandemicdriven downturn in elective surgeries and patient consultations has affected Australian hospital
The top three strategic priorities amongst hospitals in the Asia Pacific are emergency preparedness, recovering from the financial impact of COVID-19 and improving healthcare worker safety. In particular, emergency preparedness remains a crucial, ongoing priority. “Despite being able to control the spread of the pandemic initially, many countries have still been hit with subsequent waves that are proving harder to control,” the report added. Further, hospital spending over the next three years is expected to decrease: the share of hospitals planning to increase spending fell from 30%-40% to 15%-25%. Although most hospitals in the region are showing more conservative planned spending compared to last year, Australia and China indicated planned spending sentiment similar to that of the previous year. “On average, about 40% of hospitals in both countries intend to increase spending across all categories. Pandemic response aside, governments in the region have been trying to rein in healthcare costs. A specific example is drug cost management policies in China and Japan,” the report added.
