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Discovery says lockdown has saved 10 000 covid19 lives because delaying the peak means SA benefitted from better treatment and lower fatality rates. 1st...I think the Profs who introduced better care.. saved the lives.
But what other lives were lost.... Its a trade off?
But what other lives were lost.... Its a trade off?
Discovery don't have a public figure on if lockdown with its stress & economic devastation & delayed healthcare also caused deaths. Even the excess deaths modellers emphasize some deaths are from delayed care.
So I think if we talk of 10000 or 16000 lives saved, it needs balance.
So I think if we talk of 10000 or 16000 lives saved, it needs balance.
Medical aid administrators are masters at understanding life trade offs. Do they pay a R1mn for a cancer drug that maybe works to prolong a stage 4 life for a few months but might not? Or do they use the money for more people for high quality healthcare cause £ not infinite?
It's an interesting that an organisation that has to make daily decisions on which lives to spend money on & who not to help and understands trade offs.. Has given 1 figure of lives they say are saved by lockdown but not another....
They detail the missed cancer diagnosis & diabetes diagnosis & reduced doctors visits with frightening figures so they surely know lockdown will lead to lives lost. A late cancer diagnosis, a suicide after losing everything, increased poverty...10000/16000 lives is 1 of 2 numbers
The other number... The number of lives lost from economic devastation, poverty, delayed healthcare, suicide may never be calculated...But they will happen. Prof Madhi explained how the Ebola response in DRC led to interrupted vaccinations.. More deaths from measles than Ebola.
Also I am highly skeptical of the 10 000/16000 number cause its suggesting the lockdown delayed the peak so SA learned from Italy etc on what not to do in ICU and what to do drug and oxygen wise to save lives... .
But docs knew what to do in April ish and our peak in June.
??
But docs knew what to do in April ish and our peak in June.
??
