University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
INESC TEC - Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Porto, Portugal.
Int J Health Policy Manag. 2021 Aug 1;10(8):462-464. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.116.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created strong pressure on national health critical care systems. After its initial impact in Asia, the highest case growth is now in the Americas. The South American countries face a strong challenge due to the vulnerabilities of their health systems and the fragile socio-economic conditions of their population. This perspective looks at the impact of COVID-19 in South America and argues that the health critical care systems of these countries are particularly vulnerable due to the underestimation of the number of cases currently confirmed and the strong need for treatment of these patients in intensive care units (ICUs). In particular, Bolivia will need to increase the number of ICU beds 60-fold while Brazil will need to grow 12-fold to meet the growth rates of COVID-19 by the end of July 2020. In this sense, it is argued that national and transnational measures should be taken urgently to face this challenge. Furthermore, it is necessary to perform tests to detect COVID-19 cases earlier to alleviate the need for internment in ICUs.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行给国家卫生危急重症监护系统带来了巨大压力。在最初在亚洲造成影响后，目前病例增长最高的地区是美洲。由于卫生系统的脆弱性和人口脆弱的社会经济状况，南美国家面临着巨大的挑战。本观点着眼于 COVID-19 在南美洲的影响，并认为这些国家的卫生危急重症监护系统由于目前确诊病例数量被低估以及这些患者在重症监护病房（ICU）中治疗的强烈需求而特别脆弱。特别是，玻利维亚将需要将 ICU 床位数量增加 60 倍，而巴西则需要将床位数量增加 12 倍，以满足 2020 年 7 月底 COVID-19 增长率的需求。从这个意义上说，有人认为应紧急采取国家和跨国措施来应对这一挑战。此外，有必要进行检测以更早地发现 COVID-19 病例，从而减轻对 ICU 住院的需求。
