India’s overburdened hospitals could actually benefit from more elective surgeries

On March 22, the Indian government issued an advisory directing hospitals and medical institutions to postpone non-essential elective surgeries to free up resources to deal with Covid-19. By the end of May, an estimated half a million elective surgeries in the country had been postponed.

That’s not great for patients. An elective surgery is a medical procedure that can be scheduled in advance: It’s often necessary, but it’s not an emergency. Some examples include gallbladder stone removal, angiography or stenting for cardiac patients, and resections for early-stage cancer. Just because these procedures are elective doesn’t mean they’re not urgent: Patients could take a turn for the worse if care is put off for too long.

As India’s lockdown lifts, elective surgeries are getting back on the track. But they’re not necessarily accessible. “Surgery costs have increased by Rs6,000 and Rs10,000 due to the extra precaution needed in terms of PPE equipment for the entire surgical staff, mandatory Covid-19 tests, and extra sanitisation procedures,” said Arjun Kumar, co-founder of Hyderabad-based MedFin.

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