COVID 19 epidemic in India: impact on health, food security and nutritional status

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major challenge that tested the coping capabilities and resilience of nations and people. Two years after the last wave of the epidemic in India, might be the appropriate time to assess the:  challenges the COVID-19 epidemic posed to the health, food security and nutritional status of the population,  appropriateness, timeliness and adequacy of the interventions to minimise the adverse consequences, and  impact of these interventions on the health and nutritional status of the population. India had three waves of the COVID-19 epidemic. The lockdown delayed and flattened the first wave; both cases and deaths were low. The devastating second wave, infected millions of persons; the health system was overwhelmed and case fatality rates were high. The third wave infected millions but death rates were low. The age-standardized COVID 19 mortality and longevity reduction due to COVID-19 were low. The stringent lockdown in 2020 resulted in economic contraction. Subsequently, economic growth recovered. During 2020 there was a steep rise in urban unemployment but the situation improved when lockdown was lifted. The demand for rural employment was high in 2020 and continues to be higher than the pre-COVID-19 levels even now. To combat food insecurity due to job loss and reduction in earnings, the provisions under the National Food Security Act were utilized to provide highly subsidized and free food grains to over 800 million Indians; this enabled the population to remain food secure and hunger-free. The provision of food grain at low cost is being continued even now to prevent the adverse impact of stagnant real income and high food inflation on food security. Data from the national surveys and our research study in urban low-middle-income families indicate that the COVID-19 epidemic did not result in increase in the prevalence of under- nutrition or over-nutrition in children or adults. These data suggest that the world’s most populous country and its citizens had managed the health and food security challenges of the COVID-19 epidemic relatively well.