Asian Hospital & Healthcare Managment - Issue 50

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A New World for Hospital Infection Control ResMed talks respiratory care Mervyn Lim, Vice President, ResMed Asia

COVID-19 has put a significant strain on healthcare systems in Asia and around the world. With the outbreak of the pandemic and the surge in the number of patients requiring beds for COVID-19 response, many hospitals in the region have had to shift resources away from any non-intensive ICU treatments.1 This has led to the temporary closure of many so-called ‘elective’ treatments, including testing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as services for patients with sleep disorders. As the word ‘elective’ implies optional, this has created a complex situation for respiratory specialists responsible for the management of the

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A SI A N H O S P I T A L & H EA LT HCAR E M A N AGE M E N T

Even though some services have restarted, patients are quite concerned about hygiene in a hospital setting. PROF. SUSANNA NG

COPD patient population during this pandemic. According to a recent article in the European Respiratory Journal, we have not yet quantified how many

IS S UE - 50, 2020

COPD patients may have chosen, or were unable to, visit hospitals during this pandemic.2 Although researchers hypothesise—drawing on learnings


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