Covid-19 and Other Diseases

Covid-19 and Other Diseases: the Covid-19 pandemic is predicted to cause an additional 400,000 malaria deaths this year; an additional 700,000 HIV-related deaths in Africa alone; 15 million unintended pregnancies; and up to 1.4 million additional tuberculosis deaths by 2025. The list continues: at least 80 million children under one are at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, rubella and polio, as routine immunisation services have been disrupted in almost 70 countries. There could be an additional 113,000 maternal deaths in the next 12 months because of disruption to care before, during and after childbirth. Global poverty, a major driver of poor health, is set to worsen. Mathematical modelling can only describe a range of possibilities – possibilities that are highly sensitive to our actions. But these numbers should nevertheless give us pause.