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Yet, while we rightly point to the lack of ICU beds, ventilators, and trained medical staff across many Western states, we must recognize that the situation in most of the rest of the world is immeasurably worse. Malawi, for example, has about 25 ICU beds for a population of 17 million people. There are less than 2.8 critical care beds per 100,000 people on average across South Asia, with Bangladesh possessing around 1,100 such beds for a population of over 157 million . In comparison, the shocking pictures coming out of Italy are occurring in an advanced health care system with an average 12.5 ICU beds per 100,000 . The situation is so serious that many poorer countries do not even have information on ICU availability. Of course, the question of ICU and hospital capacity is one part of a much larger set of issues including a widespread lack of basic resources , adequate access to primary medical care, and the presence of other . Taken as a whole, all of these factors will undoubtedly mean a vastly higher prevalence of critically ill patients across poorer countries as a result of COVID-19. (en) |
