COVID-19 in Africa
After Latin America, there are strong fears that the epidemic will hit Africa harder in the coming weeks. Africa recorded its first case of the new disease in mid-February. While it took nearly 100 days to reach 100,000 cases, the jump to 200,000 cases occurred in less than 20. WHO recommends that as restrictions are lifted, countries must ensure that they can continue to test for COVID-19 while also providing access to essential health services. Read more>>
COVID-19: Opportunities for a rise in local e-health solutions?
Every country on the continent Africa has confirmed cases of COVID-19. As well as rapidly mobilising limited resources to flatten the disease curve, institute diagnosis and case detection and management, health systems have to contend with context-specific challenges to which imported foreign solutions may not effectively respond. These challenges are presenting opportunities for the health technologies sector in Africa, particularly start-ups that have the agility to rapidly innovate local solutions at low-cost. Read more>>
The Lancet: Global governance for COVID-19 vaccines
Enormous amounts of public money and resources poured into vaccine research and development have resulted in more than 150 COVID-19 vaccine candidates, ten of which are now in clinical trials. Neither a nationalist nor a free-market-driven approach will lead to equal access to vaccines. It is imperative that more governments and pharmaceutical companies agree to shoulder the costs of vaccine research and manufacturing, and to share data and technologies. They need to commit to WHO allocation guidelines and cooperate globally to distribute vaccines fairly to those at greatest risk. A pandemic vaccine needs strong global governance behind it. >>Read the article
COVID-19: Lack of proactive pandemic planning at the expense of tackling other diseases
The global public health impact of COVID-19 reaches far beyond the direct consequences of the infection itself. As health resources are diverted to tackle the pandemic, ongoing efforts to control other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, are put at risk and care-seeking at the grass-roots level is hampered. Read more>>
The next phase of COVID-19: lifting lockdowns
Since the beginning of 2020, over a third of the world’s population has at one time or another been shut away at home. The drastic measures put in place to slow the spread of the pandemic have come with large impacts on the world economy. Many countries are now seeking to put lockdowns behind them but risks in term of public health are still present. Read more >>
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