COVID 19 pandemic: Disruption of essential health services for older people, mitigation measures for restoration and emerging challenges

The WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia of has been providing technical support to the Member States on various aspects of COVID-19 prevention and management since the beginning of the pandemic. The pandemic has affected the older population severely. 

In addition to high risk of contacting the infection and case fatality, disruption of health services due to restrictions in the form of lockdown has also affected essential care of non-communicable diseases, mental health and longterm care.  

To address the challenges of ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and emerging issues related to its containment, a webinar “COVID 19 pandemic: Disruption of essential health services for older people, mitigation measures for restoration and emerging challenges” was organized on 4th June by the Department of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health and Ageing (MCA) with the overall objectives of guiding the WHO Country Offices in supporting Member States on various challenges of the pandemic.