Impact of the societal response to COVID-19 on access to healthcare for non-COVID-19 health issues in slum communities of Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan: results of pre-COVID and COVID-19 lockdown stakeholder engagements.
Syed A K Shifat AhmedMotunrayo AjisolaKehkashan AzeemPauline BakibingaYen-Fu ChenNazratun Nayeem ChoudhuryOlufunke FayehunAnne-Marie SlowtherBronwyn HarrisPeter M KibeRichard J LilfordAkinyinka O OmigbodunNarjis RizviJo SartoriSimon SmithSamuel I WatsonRia WilsonGodwin YeboahNavneet AujlaSyed Iqbal AzamPeter J DiggleParamjit S GillRomaina IqbalCaroline KabariaLyagamula KisiaCatherine KyobutungiJason J MadanBlessing MberuShukri F MohamedAhsana NazishOladoyin OdubanjoMary E OsuhEme OwoajeOyinlola OyebodeJoão Porto de AlbuquerqueOmar RahmanKomal TabaniOlalekan John TaiwoGrant TregonningOlalekan Abdulrahman UthmanRita Yusufnull nullPublished in: BMJ global health (2020)
Slum residents' ability to seek healthcare for non-COVID-19 conditions has been reduced during lockdowns. To encourage healthcare seeking, clear communication is needed about what is available and whether infection control is in place. Policymakers need to ensure that costs do not escalate and unfairly disadvantage slum communities. Remote consulting to reduce face-to-face contact and provision of mental health and gender-based violence services should be considered.