COVID-19 Impacts in Africa

On Thursday. April 16, Rabin Martin, as the Secretariat for the Private Sector Roundtable for Global Health Security (PSRT), hosted an eighth call in a series on the latest health impacts of COVID-19. The call featured two experts on the COVID-19 situation in Africa.

Dr. John Nkengasong, Director, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that there are currently 18,000 cases among 52 countries on the African continent – a 6 percent increase since last week – and that deaths are approaching 1,000. While those numbers may not seem as high as expected, he noted that the situation can change very quickly as it did in the U.S. and U.K. He emphasized that it’s dangerous to talk about flattening the curve: “This is a treacherous virus. If you become complacent, you will be in deep, deep trouble.”

Dr. Nkengasong briefly described a new continental strategy that 36 Ministers of Health agreed to following an emergency meeting convened by the African Union in February. The three pillars are 1) limiting transmission, 2) limiting deaths and 3) limiting harm.

The Africa CDC is supporting countries in the following areas: scaling up diagnostics; training on infectious disease control; surveillance and screening; risk communication; and commodities distribution. Dr. Nkengasong asked that the private sector consider supporting countries either on a bilateral basis or more broadly through a new Africa COVID-19 Response Fund, a partnership with the African Union. Reflecting on the global nature of the pandemic (as opposed to localized Ebola outbreaks), he asserted that this is a global fight: “COVID-19 will not be declared over anywhere unless it is declared over everywhere in the world.”

Dr. Githinji Gitahi stated that the response to COVID-19 has to be “government-led and community-owned.” He emphasized that people need to understand what social distancing means across the diversity of community contexts in Africa. The government imposing a lockdown and expecting people to obey is unlikely to be effective unless communities understand the potential impact of the crisis on their daily lives and own their response.

He added that the private sector has played an important role in the response – from setting up hand washing stations in areas where there is a lack of water, or donating advertising space (billboards, radio and TV spots) to the government for public service announcements, to supporting a “FlexiFund” to enable the quick purchase of items that the government does not have on hand or is unable to make.

Dr. Gitahi also highlighted the “interdependency” of global health security and universal health coverage. He noted the disturbing trend of people hiding COVID-19 symptoms because of the financial implications of testing positive. In some countries, individuals pay for the cost of being quarantined and the care needed. In addition, people do not want to be prevented from working and losing income. He added that removing financial protection, especially for the most vulnerable, will hinder access to care, which will have a dire impact.

“If the response is not managed properly, economies will fail given the informality of the economy in Africa, with many people losing jobs, salaries cut and daily wage-earners unable to work.” Both speakers noted that COVID-19 must be viewed as an acute infection – “If it is chronic, we will not survive because we cannot continue to lock down economies.” They noted that there is a double-edged sword to the response: a strong need to support people’s health, but the danger of reducing taxes to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.  Summarizing this challenging situation, Dr. Gitahi posed the questions: “When is the curve flat enough? What is the cost of a flatter curve? At what point is the cost of flattening the curve too much?”

John Nkengasong reminded everyone of what’s at stake in his closing remarks: “We have to win this fight for the continent to survive.” With a strategy of coordination, collaboration, communication and partnership – with both the private sector and civil society – Africa is planning to win.