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Review
. 2021 May;115(3):178-187.
doi: 10.1080/20477724.2021.1878446. Epub 2021 Mar 4.

The Covid-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries, who carries the burden? Review of mass media and publications from six countries

Dhia Joseph Chackalackal  1 , Ahmed Asa'Ad Al-Aghbari  1 , Su Yeon Jang  2 , Tatiana Rivera Ramirez  1 , Jose Vincent  3 , Anand Joshi  4 , Megha Raj Banjara  5 , Peter Asaga  6 , Rocio Cardenas Sanchez  7   8 , Maria Angelica Carrillo  1   8 , Juan Manuel Villa  1 , Sonia Diaz Monsalve  1 , Axel Kroeger  1
Affiliations
Review

The Covid-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries, who carries the burden? Review of mass media and publications from six countries

Dhia Joseph Chackalackal et al. Pathog Glob Health. 2021 May.

Abstract

During the Covid-19 pandemic, rich countries employed lockdown and physical distancing policies for transmission control. However, the question still remains whether these measures are also suitable in countries with a fragile economy, which rests mainly on the informal sector. The impacts of lockdown measures in disadvantaged population strata in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) were reviewed using i) 93 media reports and ii) 17 published scientific papers. This review showed that those who suffered the most from the lockdown were migrants, workers in the large informal sector, small businesses, slum dwellers, women and elderly, revealing the social, cultural and economic inequalities of societies. Financial and food support for the poor was inadequate and sometimes mismanaged. In the better organized societies, the resilience was stronger (South Korea, Kerala/India) but here also the poor had to suffer the most. It is strongly recommended that outbreak response strategies should particularly focus on the poor and vulnerable population.

Keywords: COVID-19; corona virus; low- and middle-income countries; socio-economic impact.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Selection of studies in the literature review
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The stringency index showing the level of containment measures by country
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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