The pandemic is also a success story in Africa
According to the WHO Africa Director, successes like this deserve more attention: “Sometimes we focus too much on the negative effects of the pandemic. We learned a lot, built new capacities and expanded the reach of our health services.« The investments in the fight against Covid-19 had paid off and continued to have an impact after the pandemic. For example, the intensive care bed capacity has been expanded, which will also benefit patients with other diseases in the future. In addition, the mechanisms and structures for dealing with future health emergencies have been strengthened.
It is now a matter of implementing proven strategies and better preparing the countries in the region for future pandemics. This requires access to integrated health services, solid data, vaccines and, last but not least, the cooperation of the population. Moeti also emphasizes the importance of communities and civil society organizations. They played a “central role” during the pandemic and could continue to help improve access to health services in the future.
This access must not only exist, but also be fair and inclusive, emphasizes the South African HIV researcher Quarraisha Abdool Karim. Because as you strengthen health systems, you always have to think about who might be left behind. Information, prevention and treatment should be open to everyone, without exclusion, fear of discrimination or stigmatization. According to the motto »Leave no one behind«, coined by WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus. “If not everyone benefits if we continue to think in terms of ‘us and them’, then we’ll still be having this conversation in 20 years’ time,” says Abdool Karim. This can also be understood as a dig at the unequal global vaccine distribution during the corona pandemic.
As the threat from Covid-19 decreases, concerns about cholera outbreaks in 10 African countries are growing, says WHO Africa Director Moeti. Estimates assume 26,000 cases and 660 deaths in January alone. This corresponds to about a third of the total cases of the previous year. Although these outbreaks are not a consequence of a pandemic in the narrower sense, they do make it clear that the African continent is constantly fighting infectious diseases. And, Moeti adds: »The increasing number of countries in which cholera is breaking out is putting immense pressure on the worldwide limited vaccine stocks.« Against this background, too, Moeti is supporting the expansion and construction of vaccine production facilities on the African continent. So that the next pandemic will bring fewer side effects.