Role of Health Infrastructure in containing the pandemic – Decoding the Stigma

Abstract

Covid-19 has affected the entire world, but not alike. Perception is that a country's health infrastructure greatly impacts its ability to contain the spread of various diseases. But is it so? This study aims to identify the role of health infrastructure in creating a variation in the impact of the Coronavirus across countries. The main objective of our study is to identify any relations between the pandemic related fatality rate and health infrastructure of a country as the usual stigma is. Methodology: In this study, a few key components of health infrastructure were identified and a suitable criterion for the selection of 12 nations for this study was followed. The data metrics, such as population density, deaths, cases, hospital beds, nurses, physicians, tests and current expenditure on health, were extrapolated through linear regression and an aggregate score of the health infrastructure of each country was arrived at using a formula based on WHO standards of a particular data metrics. The countries were grouped into different categories through the use of a matrix on basis of their respective scores and case-fatality rates. Results: Results show that highly developed countries like the USA and Australia have very good health infrastructures whereas Russia, though not so developed, stands amongst them in terms of infrastructure. On the other hand, India, which is still a developing country, has a poor infrastructure. All the European nations, studied here, have a moderate infrastructure. There is no definite relationship of this classification on the corona-case-fatality rate. India, apart from having poor infrastructure, has a lower fatality rate and Canada, despite great infrastructure has a high fatality rate. Conclusion: All the analysis points towards the stigma being wrong and tells us that there is no whatsoever correlation between Health infrastructure and Corona fatality rate. Also, the scope of this study limits itself to comparative analysis of the data collected and further extrapolated. Health infrastructure is not the sole factor in studying the varying impact of the virus on different nations but studying it exclusively has provided some insights into the vastness and depth of this sector alone.