OPINION: Stopping the syndemic: Covid-19 plus other debilitating and deadly diseases

Stopping the syndemic: Covid-19 plus other deadly diseases - STAT As the pandemic rips across the world, other debilitating and deadly diseases are left undiagnosed and untreated. We're facing a syndemic. Patrick Skerrett STAT

With Covid-19 vaccines beginning to be distributed in the United States and other countries, and with health care professionals more knowledgeable about the virus, there’s hope we’ll be able to manage the new spike in cases and chart a course to recovery. But it will take a lot more than that to undo the damage this pandemic has caused.

As the pandemic rips across the world, taking lives and devouring health resources and economies, it is also creating a void in which other debilitating and deadly diseases are left undiagnosed and untreated. That means we aren’t merely facing a once-in-a-century pandemic. We’re facing a syndemic: the confluence of several epidemics.

In the U.S. alone, more than 40% of Americans have reported postponing medical care due to Covid-19. Preventive cancer screenings have plummeted during the pandemic, along with visits to ambulatory practices. Vaccination rates for diseases like mumps and measles are also down. Other countries report similar trends.

To address these unmet needs and meet the syndemic head on, we need to reimagine our approach to health care. Digital health technology can help cover a large percentage of patients’ needs, such as routine consultations, screening for many diseases, and follow-ups after some surgical procedures, to name a few, though certainly not all of it: a clinician can’t deliver a baby or administer a vaccine over Zoom.

The U.S. government has recognized this opportunity, dedicating several hundred million dollars to support telehealth programs through the pandemic with targeted support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to cover rural areas.

But these advances shouldn’t disappear once the Covid-19 emergency is over. Policymakers need to ensure a supportive policy framework that maximizes the potential for telehealth. Public and private insurers should recognize and cover patients’ use of telehealth services on par with in-person visits to a doctor’s office. And antiquated and prohibitive laws restricting clinicians from practicing across state lines and with the full scope of their practices must be reassessed. ...