Collateral Effects of COVID-19 on Non-Communicable Diseases Among Minority Populations

Abstract

Individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have a compromised immune system which heightens their risk of contracting a communicable disease, along with a heightened rate of severe complications and death. In light of the recent health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, modifications of the prevention and control strategies of NCDs could be a necessary step in order to curve the burden and severity that a communicable disease could inflict on an individual with NCDs. Therefore, the prevention and control strategies for NCDs should be modified, so such behaviors and risk factors can be evaded when in the face of a concurrent health crisis, in order to lower the rates of mortality and morbidity. This study investigates and determines, through qualitative analyses, if modification of the prevention and control strategies of NCDs, when in the face of concurrent health crisis, can help curve the burden and severity of future health crisis among minority populations.