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The stress that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on health systems internationally has forced difficult decisions concerning the rationing of medical care and has put the bioethical structures that inform those choices under scrutiny. Often, ethical approaches to pandemic circumstances center around utilitarianism, dehumanizing the treatment process and ignoring the plurality of other philosophical doctrines that inform non-Western bioethics, which could be of use in addressing the pandemic. This paper focuses on philosophical Taoism, as developed in the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, in order to suggest an alternative approach to medical care when medical capacity is limited, grounded in the concept of wu-wei, or inaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, healthcare system in India has been largely centralized, expensive and impersonal. In a country where expenditure on healthcare is low, most healthcare expenditure is out‑of‑pocket and where most of the population continue to live in rural areas or in urban fringes, such a care is inaccessible, unresponsive and unaffordable. COVID pandemic exposed these realities further. Based on experiences of directly managing health services during COVID‑19 pandemic in different settings and across different levels, authors of this paper argue for a decentralized, distributed and responsive health systems for India, that is likely to be more effective and sustainable in normal times, and in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health care systems worldwide have rapidly responded to manage the COVID-19 pandemic by providing screening tests, contact tracing, treatment, and vaccination. However, the long duration of the pandemic has had an enormous load on the health care systems, which disrupted continuity of the essential non-covid services, long waiting time for appointments, and increase in the utilization of telemedicine services. Primary health care was established as an essential foundation for the global response to the COVID-19. In Qatar, Primary Heath Care Corporation (PHCC), the main primary care services provided played a major role in the response to the pandemic. However, its services were affected and disrupted, and new services were added. Hence, the aim of this analysis is to understand the long-term impact of the COVID-19 on the services provided by PHCC in Qatar in terms of PHCC pandemic response, change in utilization of the core, and preventative services, and the introduction of new alternative services. Methods: A retrospective data analysis was conducted for all the appointments and visits for all the PHCC health centers in the years of 2020 and 2021. The study conducted a comparison of the services utilizations using the utilization figures of PHCC services between 1st of January and 31st of December 2019 as a reference year. The differences in the utilization per service were presented in frequencies and percentages. Results: The in-person services dropped drastically in 2020 at 36% reduction in compassion to 2019. However, the newly introduced virtual consultation services in 2020 reached their highest utilization figures in 2021 at 908,965 virtual visits. The COVID-19 specific related services ranging from the COVID-19 drive-through testing to vaccine administration constituted a total number of 2,836,127 visits corresponding to 44% of the total PHCC services utilization visits in 2021. In 2021, PHCC dental services dropped by 25.2%. The most noticeable utilization drops in 2021 were among the preventative services with 53.2% and 78.9% in colorectal screening and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) risk factors annual screening services, respectively. However, mental health services have witnessed a surge in utilization at 134.1% increase in 2021 in comparison to 2019. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption in the PHCC utilization of core services, namely dental services. Additionally, PHCC preventive services utilizations were affected drastically including cancer and NCDs risk factors annual screening. Nevertheless, PHCC managed to provide alternative virtual services and played a vital role in responding to the pandemic by leading the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Qatar. However, future research is needed to establish which vulnerable patient groups were most affected by the pandemic, to continue to inform strategies and policies directed at mitigating the impact of future potential pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Government runs teaching hospitals to impart a high-quality medical education to budding medicos and paramedical students in training. The experiences these trainees at various tenure positions get then and there shape their worldview for rest of the life and have an indelible impression. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted all the routines at the hospitals around the world—including ours—and we make an attempt to measure it in one dimension in this study. Materials and Methods: We obtained attendance data of patients at out patient department and in patient department of our hospital. During the pandemic for a certain duration offline (physical) registrations were closed and they were attended only by online ones. Hence that data (actually a part of it) got captured electronically and we analyzed it to get an idea of the traversed course of the scourge. Results: When the pandemic surged during the spring and summer of 2021, our hospital was turned into a Covid facility. Hence average routine attendance of patients got reduced to a significant extent, elective surgeries/interventions and procedures were postponed and this data is reflected in an electronic system, perhaps making a long-lasting effect on the budding trainees. This fact needs to be realized so as to take appropriate action. Conclusion: We need to realize that the effects of the viral communicable disease may be enduring, not only for the infected patients and their families but also for those who learn on those patients. Therefore, the transmissible diseases disabled not only our society, economy, and health care services when they ascended but pedagogy too. Online learning came to rescue but only up to a certain extent and with several caveats and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many developed countries have switched from conventional outpatient psychiatric services to tele mental health-based alternatives because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, similar transitions might be difficult for countries like India because of a shortage of necessary resources. Therefore, the feasibility and acceptability of converting to a home-based tele mental health (HB-TMH) service during the pandemic were examined in an Indian hospital. Materials and Methods: A new and expanded version of an HB-TMH service was operated for all outpatients following the onset of the pandemic. Feasibility outcomes included operational viability, service utilization, service engagement, the need for additional in-person services, and the frequency of adverse events. Patients' and clinicians' satisfaction with different aspects of the service were evaluated using Likert-style questionnaires to ascertain acceptability. The outcomes during the prepandemic and pandemic phases were also compared. Results: The switch to HB-TMH services took 6 weeks during the pandemic. Patient numbers increased greatly following this transition. Attendance improved, the requirement for in-person services was low, and no serious adverse events were reported. However, patients' satisfaction levels were relatively low during the pandemic. Clinicians were more satisfied than the patients with HB-TMH treatment during the pandemic. Differences between them were less marked but still present before the pandemic. Pre- and postpandemic comparisons revealed that both patients and clinicians were more satisfied with all aspects of HB-TMH care before the pandemic than during it. Conclusions: Though conversion to HB-TMH services was feasible during the pandemic, such services need to be improved to enhance patient acceptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanities are an integral part of health professions. However, with educational focus shifting gradually toward knowledge, information, evidence-based medicine, and technology, it has taken a back seat and become a part of the "hidden curriculum." Humanities are hardly ever taught upfront to students of the health profession, let alone its assessment. With the need of its inclusion in health professional education now recognized and established through competency-based education, we need to be aware of the tools and strategies which can be used to teach and assess it. In this article, we share selected tools with relevant readily usable examples for teaching humanities to students of the health profession. Faculty may find it useful to plan sessions around related competencies. Incorporation of such experiential teaching and learning methods can help us achieve the transition from "high-tech" to "high touch" health professions education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The whole world was shaken with the pandemic of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in end of the year 2019. Due to its novel origin, it was required to follow all precautions possible. Dealing with the massive amount of infectious healthcare waste became an enormous challenge. This review identifies the impacts of the pandemic on biomedical waste management. This systematic review was made by using keywords "biomedical waste" and "COVID 19" in open access databases like PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholers etc. 2124 articles downloaded and 765 found duplicate and 634 not related to the topic. after scrutiny with inclusion criteria 102 articles were considered to analyze the practices related to biomedical waste management during pandemic using PRISMA guideline.. The COVID-19 waste segregation, collection, storage, transportation, and disposal are a big challenge with all stakeholders. In order to control the virus spread, strict monitoring of the complete waste management cycle is required. Adoption of appropriate guidelines is paramount to worker safety and containment of infection. Sustainable recycling methods are needed to deal with the ever-increasing plastic waste resulting from mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) usage. The situation also demands a rethinking of the healthcare system. Overall, there was an increase in BMW generation, and municipal waste had increased globally. Pandemic preparedness requires a global public health strategy and long-term investments. This will be vital for making a robust community capable enough to fight against any public health pressures in the future, as well as the pandemic tremors. Systematized efforts from all stakeholders, at all levels, not only refines epidemic preparation but also helps to attain a sustainable development of health for a healthier future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sequence of unexplained pneumonia cases was reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. After several analyses, in January 2020, the World Health Organization temporarily named this new virus as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). It is found that 2019-nCoV is abundantly present in nasopharyngeal and salivary secretions of affected patients and it is found to be transmitted through the saliva and the feco–oral routes since its spread is through potential person-to-person transmission route which is predominantly thought to be respiratory droplet/contact in nature. Dental surgeons are at tremendous risk of 2019-nCoV infection due to the face-to-face communication and the exposure to aerosols, saliva, blood, and other body fluids and the handling of sharp instruments and also may encounter patients with suspected or confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and will have to act diligently not only to provide care but also at the same time prevent nosocomial spread of infection. The significance of this review is that oral health providers must be aware and be prepared to tackle any imminent infectious diseases like the present coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, which can be life threatening to susceptible patients. This review provides a brief outline of the epidemiology, symptoms, mode of transmission, specific recommendations for dental practice that are suggested for patient screening, infection control strategies to block the person-to-person transmission routes in dental clinics and hospitals, and patient management protocol since there are certain chances of encountering oral emergencies such as acute pulpitis, periapical periodontitis, abscess, dental trauma, children's oral emergencies, and oro-maxillofacial infections during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambient air pollution is one of the treacherous and malign problems facing humanity and other living beings on the earth today. Although the air pollutants such as particulate matters (PM) and microscopic contaminants have been associated with widespread morbidity and mortality, studies have also indicated those pollutants as a potential synergist to respiratory infirmities in both adults and children. Many viral contaminants have also been reported as potential detriments of respiratory distresses. Exposure to poor grades of ambient air can lead to numerous health consequences, such as adverse effects on the lung, heart, and other vital organs. In recent years, many studies infer that pollution along with viral contaminants impart substantial worldwide burden of diseases on human beings. Excessive air suspended pollutants such as micro or nanoparticulate matters bring down the life expectancy of human beings in many ways. Regardless of the passage of entry, fine and ultrafine PM that enter into systemic circulation affect vascular endothelial cells by producing local oxidative stress and have the capacity to cross biological barriers, thereby creating numerous deleterious effects on vital organs. Pollution-induced systemic inflammation is mediated by proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6, interleukin-1 β, and tumor necrotic factor-α. These systemic inflammatory mediators are implicated in causing or exacerbating many complications in the human body. This article is an attempt to accentuate the pollution-linked health impediments, as well as the fountainheads of ambient air pollution so that some effective strategies can be developed to manage this global peril. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last several weeks, the Indian media both newspapers and the TV have been reporting patients who developed mucormycosis (majority rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM)), wrongly called as "Black fungus", within short time of COVID-19 recovery or during the disease itself. While there is no difference in the efficacy of a variety of corticosteroids, dexamethasone is preferred.[[5]] Regardless of the preexisting diabetes, it is recommended to monitor blood glucose and in patients with diabetes, corticosteroids should be used for controlling the cytokine storm under insulin control. Role of uncontrolled diabetes: Without a doubt uncontrolled diabetes is a major risk factor in the current spurt of mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents a developing nations' perspective Tele-child neurology in the era of Covid 19 pandemic. Topics include rapid pace of progression of the pandemic has forced many nations to institute strict containment measures; and examine the potential of the emerging tele‑child‑neurology practices in meeting the brisk demands in developing countries.

Resident physician exposure to novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV-2) within New York City during exponential phase of COVID-19 pandemic: report of the New York City residency program directors COVID-19 research group. It was indeed the young ophthalmologists and women ophthalmologists who suffered the most. Commentary: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on income and opportunities of ophthalmologists in India. [Extracted from the article]