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Introduction: Lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had an appreciable impact on the education of all medical, dental and non-medical healthcare professional students. These included the closure of universities necessitating a rapid move to e-learning and a new practical approach to conducting teaching-learning classes. However, initially, there was a lack of knowledge and expertise regarding e-learning approaches and the affordability of internet bundles and equipment. Materials and Methods: We conducted two pilot studies to assess such current challenges, replaced by a two-stage approach including a full investigation involving 32 private and public universities during the early stages of the pandemic, followed by a later study assessing the current environment brought about by the forced tops. Results: The top challenges at the start of the pandemic included a lack of familiarity with the e-learning approaches, the cost of the internet, a lack of IT equipment and the quality of the classes. To address identified challenges, universities offered support to staff and students. Since then, e-learning approaches have widened the possibilities for teaching and learning at convenient times. However, challenges remain. Conclusions: There were considerable challenges at the start of the pandemic. Several key issues have been addressed with hybrid learning here to stay. The remaining challenges include a lack of ICT equipment. However, new innovations will continue.

The present review was intended to explore the effectiveness of perinatal services such as antenatal care (ANC) and post-natal care (PNC) on the health indicators such as maternal, child and neonatal mortality. Globally, indicators are considered very important in determining the health status and the overall performance of a country's healthcare system. A literature search was conducted using maternal mortality, child mortality, neonatal mortality, ANC and PNC in the PubMed, Google, Academia, The Lancet and Journal of the American Medical Association databases. Globally, implementing integrated perinatal care services has brought positive changes in the maternal, child and neonatal mortality indices. The United Nations (UN) is committed to improving the overall living conditions in all countries, significantly improving the population's health status. The UN came up with eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000, aiming to eliminate poverty and increase development in member states. The World Health Organization was a partner in implementing these goals. Later, the UN introduced 17-fold Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 as a blueprint for peace and prosperity for all citizens towards a better future by 2030. As a result, many countries have experienced positive changes in most indicator areas, including service utilisation, maternal mortality and child mortality. Some Sub-Saharan African and South Asian countries are progressing, however, slowly.

Introduction: The early approaches to prevent the spread of COVID-19 included lockdown and social distancing measures, leading to university closures. These measures forced unparalleled changes to the delivery of healthcare education. Concerns included the preparedness of faculty and students to e-learning as well as the routine availability and funding of equipment and internet bundles. This needed addressing with fully trained healthcare professionals required given rising inappropriate use of antibiotics in India, growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases as well as an increasing number of patients with joint comorbidities. Consequently, there is a need to ascertain the current impact of the pandemic on healthcare student education across India. Materials and Methods: This was a pilot study among 10 purposely selected healthcare educators in both private and public universities. The questionnaire built on published studies. Results: Identified challenges included a lack of familiarity with online education, no bedside teaching, lack of equipment and affordability of internet bundles, poor internet connectivity and postponed examinations. Ways forward included training faculty on e-learning, providing students with loans and other financial support to purchase equipment and internet bundles, establishing COVID-19 prevention protocols and protective equipment, recording lectures and tutorials to make up for lost time and simulated methods to teach clinical aspects. Conclusion: Despite challenges, there was a rapid move to online learning among surveyed universities. Alongside this, courses to address lack of familiarity with e-learning approaches with hybrid teaching approaches here to stay. The next step will be to undertake a wider study and to use the combined findings to provide future guidance.