International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 8, Issue 1, pp: (104-119), Month: April 2020 - September 2020, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON GENERAL SURGICAL SERVICES Alegbeleye Bamidele Johnson1*, Coker Akinoso Olujimi2, Ohene Jerome E.2, Oke Olatunbosun O.2, Jantchou Prevost3, Mohammed Rana K.4 1*
Department of Surgery, St Elizabeth Catholic General Hospital & Cardiac Center, P.O Box 8, Kumbo-Nso, Northwestern Region, Cameroon. 2 Department of Surgery, Lagoon Hospitals Group, 17B Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi – Lagos, Nigeria. 3 Gastro-Hépatologie et Nutrition Pédiatriques, CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada 4 Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq *Corresponding Author: drbalegbeleye@gmail.com*
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis. Surgical providers have been compelled to alter almost every aspect of their clinical practice. The primary focus is global public health security and targeted efforts to preventing the spread of the highly contagious and lethal disease. This article seeks to describe the global impact of COVID-19 pandemic on general surgical services. The communique also suggested novel initiatives to help surmount this challenging situation. METHODS: Published articles discussing COVID-19 pandemic up to April 2020 were obtained for review using a manual library search (PubMed), Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google. Ultimately, 24 most pertinent articles were selected and critically reviewed in the final analysis. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic in some communities was overwhelming in nature and was characterized by the complete exhaustion of capital and human resources for healthcare. A successful outcome requires a concerted effort, good organizational structure, careful preparedness, and an optimal preventive approach in such an emerging mass casualty incident response. Besides, the utilization of surgical appliances and staff must be well pondered and balanced. Prioritizing and skeletonizing operational activities during a pandemic is crucial and, as per the WHO and other Surgical bodies guidelines. Social distancing, quarantine, and isolation are veritable public health tools. The much-awaited breakthrough in vaccination and therapeutic solutions, Research as well as technological development needed to combat the scourge of COVID-19 pandemic is achievable only through comprehensive international collaboration. Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Impact; Isolation; Social Distancing, Quarantine; Resources Management; Surgical Services.
1. INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis. Surgical providers have been compelled to alter almost every aspect of their clinical practice [1, 2]. Today, Bill Gates could be viewed as a prophet because, during a Ted Talk in 2014, he warned that the world was ill-prepared for the next catastrophic event that would most likely be a viral epidemic. Notwithstanding the lesson learned from previous outbreaks, such as SARS, Ebola, and MERS, we yet appear to be caught unaware by the COVID-19 pandemic [3, 4]. SARS-CoV-2 is remarked as a novel virus responsible for the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). First discovered in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has been the causative agent for a pneumonic illness initially detected in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China. Surprisingly, COVID-19 had
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