Total number of civilians lost to Covid.
This will likely be the measure most recorded in the history books.
Note the over ten-fold difference in deaths between those who suppressed the virus prior to vaccine and anti-viral treatments being available.
There are though other impacts of Covid defining success. A big one is the impact on other healthcare services. Difficult to measure in its totality but here is overall excess deaths....
This is how many people died who wouldn't have had Covid not appeared.
There is also the issue of overall chance of dying from Covid over the pandemic. Overall case fatality rate has some use here.
Protecting a population from the virus prior to their being a vaccine or treatment gave a ten-fold reduction in chance of dying from Covid over 2 yrs.
Here is how many tests conducted per positive cases found. Can affect case fatality rate.
(Qatar has been removed as it has 10 X higher than all other countries).
VACCINATION!
How did the countries do with vaccinating their population?
Fully vaccinated (X 2). [some HIC data are absent]
These are the number of boosters administered per 100 people.
Hong Kong and the US are really paying for their failure to deliver or convince their population to get vaccinated/boosted. Misinformation and mistrust in government is deadly!
So there you have it. At the moment so many countries declare their efforts to contain the virus over, we can see how many lives have been saved by those who managed to control the virus in the early stages.
Of course the pandemic isn't over, some leaders have simply given up
Some argue that the cost of containing the virus early was not worth the restriction to freedoms. But...
...effectiveness and timing of interventions determined both Covid (and non-Covid) fatality rates AND the time a nation needed to spend restricted.
Here is UK versus NZ.
The UK spent nearly three times more days in national lockdown and much longer under restrictions than NZ.
Look at this graphic of when countries decided to lockdown. The lateness of the UK was very very costly...
[March 18th, most HICs had put controls in...UK hadn't]
And the economy suffered!
A pandemic is a test of leadership and a country's infrastructure. Some have demonstrated good, trusted leadership and solid foundations. For others, Covid has exposed more than just the vulnerability to new pandemic pathogens.
I hope we learn before the next pandemic/variant!
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Given some so called patriots want a French healthcare system, let’s take a look at it.
🧵
Summary: social insurance with 95% of people taking private healthcare to cover copays. Costs £40bn per year more. Less equitable than NHS, but can turn a profit
1/10
Akin to some other European countries, France uses a social insurance based model predominantly - where employer and employee pay a means-tested insurance premium
but unlike most EU countries the French people pay a surcharge on pretty much everything they access or use
This has led to 95% of the population taking out private insurance.
This is an insurance premium (on top of the social insurance premium) that is in part based on likelihood of needing health care - older people paying more.
Some good policies but overall disappointing and a bit concerning.
A summary thread
1/x
1. There is the title: Build an NHS Fit for the Future
In one way, fair enough. Buildings are outdated and crumbling and IT is hopeless
But, Labour seems oblivious to the fact the NHS leads the world in medical and surgical care. The issue is merely access not tech upgrades.
2. "publicly owned and funded" is meaningless. Even the deranged health system of the U.S. has a publicly funded component - waiting lists are horrendous and access to treatment is very limited.
We want universal access to all available treatments - quite different!
Nuffield Trust reports this week on a massive increase in private provision
More worrying, a massive surge in people using their savings to access care
From the best health system to one of the worst in 14yrs!
Summary 🧵
The amount the NHS pays (this is our tax money) to the private sector has nearly doubled in five years…
From £1.66b to £3.1b
2/9
This is catastrophic for the future of our health system
It’s based on political targets superseding clinical ones - Managers wanting to please whoever the latest Health Sec is versus prioritising clinical needs
Urgent and primary care should be priorities not GE fodder!
3/9
My obligation is to my patients, whoever they are and wherever they live.
But I want to work in the NHS…
Selfishly speaking, I appreciate not having to say no to treatments because a patient can’t afford it..
But…
🧵 1/6
After 14 yrs of Tory rule and a cowed and complicit NHS Leadership, patients are being denied treatment due to lack of resources. It is hard to witness, day in and day out.
The very principal of the NHS - access for all - no longer exists!
2/6
So do I blame any doctor seeking work elsewhere? Absolutely not. Better to survive and help patients than to be broken by a system that makes treating patients harder and harder, in a country increasingly polarised. Staying in the NHS now can be very damaging for staff.
3/6