Preventive health checks begin slow resurgence in city hospitals - The Hindu

During the pandemic, general health services were suspended in many places, and the fear of contracting COVID-19 kept many from undergoing master check-ups

Preventive screenings took the back-seat due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After slowing down or being suspended during the first and second waves, preventive healthcare services are slowly picking up pace across city hospitals.

Fear of contracting COVID-19 in a hospital setup kept many away from undergoing master health check-ups. Nevertheless, doctors underlined the need for such preventive checks for early detection of diseases and better treatment outcomes. As routine screenings went for a toss, a number of hospitals, keeping in mind the changing needs of people, have redesigned their preventive healthcare packages, bringing in post-COVID related tests.

The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) saw a drastic fall in the number of persons seeking preventive health check-ups at the Master Health Check-up Centre.

"From 70 to 80 persons a day before the pandemic, the numbers dropped drastically to five to six a day after the first wave. We have resumed preventive health checks, and are receiving 25 to 30 persons a day now. We want to improve the inflow to what it was before the pandemic or even more by bringing in newer packages," said K. Indumathi, assistant professor of pathology and in-charge medical officer of master health check-ups, RGGGH. The newer packages would be system specific, she said.

This included diabetology package, renal profile, haematology package, rheumatology package, cardiac profile, infertility profile, post-COVID package, cancer screening and obesity screening package.

"Till now, we were offering three packages to people at ₹1,000, ₹2,000 and ₹3,000. Now, we will have newer packages at affordable rates to keep in line with the changing needs of the people," she added.

The hospital has already roped its consultants to its master health check-up scheme to provide speciality consultation. Though the master health check-ups had to be suspended during the pandemic, the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Clinic at the Government Stanley Medical College (SMC) Hospital continued to function. Previously, about 100 persons walked in for preventive health checks a day.

"The number of people who came to the NCD clinic was minimal. Yet, we continued to screen them, including for various blood investigations, liver and renal function test, breast examination, ultrasound scan of the abdomen, ECHO and ECG, mammogram and pap smear," said Vidhya A., senior assistant professor and medical officer of the NCD Clinic, SMC.

Once the pandemic comes to an end, the hospital plans to restart the centre and is hoping to screen 200 to 250 persons per day, she said, adding: "The awareness on preventive health checks has definitely improved when compared to 10 to 20 years ago. Right now, people have become more aware of health."

"Before the pandemic, we used to review 400 to 500 preventive health checks a month. During the pandemic and lockdown, people who missed their routine check-ups started to come in from November. In December 2020, we had about 200 people, followed by 250 in January and 360 in February. But the numbers rose drastically and peaked at about 850 in March. This peak was multifactorial. It was mainly a concern on the present health status, a reassurance before vaccination, and pressure from children abroad asking their parents to take care of themselves," said Kavitha Sundaravadanam, senior family physician, Kauvery Hospital, Chennai.

Redesigned packages

She added that they had redesigned packages to offer age-appropriate tests.

"Now, we are seeing mostly those aged 60 and above coming for screenings. Basic checks can detect diseases early by 75% to 80%. For instance, an unnoticed breast lump can be picked up. Early cancers of the cervix, endometrial and breast cancers can be detected," she said.

Sathya Sriram, chief executive officer, preventive health, Apollo Hospitals, said the number of preventive health checks were steadily rising now, registering a week-on-week increase.

"The pandemic has helped people realise that fitness is not the same as being healthy. Secondly, it has helped many realise the need to be proactive about their health. There is a shift to be proactive and not wait for triggers or age-related symptoms to push you for checks. We are moving towards health programmes for proactive management. This includes personalisation and prediction beyond today's health using artificial intelligence," she said.

She added that the hospital started to offer home sample collection for basic blood investigations in the last three months, and rolled out a post-COVID specific package.

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