COVID-19 Pandemic In Africa Research Articles

Pneumonia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Challenges and possible solutions.

Pneumonia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Challenges and possible solutions.

Rift Valley fever during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A double burden for Africa's healthcare system.

A new rising incidence of Rift Valley fever (RVF) among livestock and humans in the African continent during the COVID‐19 pandemic has become of increasing concern. We analyzed the different ways COVID‐19 has contributed to the increase in RVF cases and how it has impacted the interventions allocated to the disease by comparing it with the status of the disease before the pandemic. There is enough evidence to conclude that the COVID‐19 pandemic has impacted the efforts being taken to prevent outbreaks of RVF. Therefore, with no definitive treatment in place and inadequate preventive measures and disease control, RVF may potentially lead to a future epidemic unless addressed urgently.

Challenges in Implementing the National Health Response to COVID-19 in Senegal.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, many epidemiological or anthropological studies have been published. However, few studies have yet been conducted to understand the implementation of State interventions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In Senegal, the national response plan was planned before the country experienced its first official case of COVID-19 on 2 March 2020. This qualitative study, conducted in March and April 2021, based on 189 interviews, aims to understand how the national response has been implemented in several regions of Senegal. Implementation of the response to the pandemic was favoured by good preparation, capacity to adapt, responsiveness of health actors, and commitment for both the political and religious authorities. The implementation response was confronted by several constraining factors such as the coercive approach, the challenges of coordinating actors, and the lack of intersectoral response. The central level has sometimes used reflexivity processes to adapt its response, but it has remained highly politicized, centralized, directive, and with little involvement of civil society. In Senegal, the response to the pandemic has been implemented in a relatively political and directive, even coercive manner, without necessarily considering prior knowledge and the need to adapt it to local contexts and to involve civil society and community actors in the process.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43477-022-00053-4.

Pneumonia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Challenges and possible solutions

Pneumonia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Challenges and possible solutions

The rising incidence of African swine fever during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Efforts, challenges and recommendations

The rising incidence of African swine fever during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Efforts, challenges and recommendations

Local government revenue leakages through corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa: The case of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has over the years experienced rampant corruption in all sectors of the economy. At local government level, there have been several allegations of corruption in areas such as revenue collection, procurement and land acquisitions among others. The magnitude of corruption is extreme especially in revenue collection. Most funds collected by local government revenue officials hardly reach municipalities’ coffers and are not accounted for. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has further created a breeding ground for corruption in revenue collection at local government level due to economic doldrums. Measures imposed by governments to contain the COVID-19 pandemic such as closure of all non-essential business activities, closure of borders and travel restrictions among others have reduced trade and economic activities.

Benefit-Cost Ratios of Continuing Routine Immunization During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa

AbstractDisruptions in routine immunization caused by COVID-19 put African countries with large vaccine-preventable disease burdens at high risk of outbreaks. Abbas et al. (2020) showed that mortality reduction from resuming immunization outweighs excess mortality from COVID-19 caused by exposure during immunization activities. We leverage these estimates to calculate benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) of disrupted immunization and apply cost of illness (COI) and value of statistical life-year (VSLY) approaches to estimate the cost of excess child deaths from eight vaccine-preventable diseases. BCRs were computed for each country, vaccine, and Expanded Program on Immunization visit. Secondary estimates that include the cost of providing immunization are presented in scenario analysis. Suspended immunization may cost $4949 million due to excess mortality using the COI approach, or $34,344 million using the VSLY approach. Likewise, excess COVID-19 deaths caused by exposure from immunization activities would cost $53 and $275 million using the COI and VSLY approaches, respectively. BCRs of continuing routine immunization are 94:1 using COI and 125:1 using VSLY, indicating that the economic costs of suspending immunization exceed that of COVID-19 deaths risked by routine immunization. When including the costs of providing routine immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic, the BCRs are 38:1 and 97:1 using the COI and VSLY approaches, respectively.

Achievements and Challenges for Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Review of Media in Africa.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic struck globally and has affected higher education institutions (HEIs) and their operations, indirectly impacting the progress of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 achieved thus far. This article addresses HEIs achievements and challenges experienced in the wake of the pandemic. Online news media reports played a facilitative role in providing information to the HEI communities. A rapid review exploring online news media messages relating to higher education at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa was utilised. Narrative synthesis was used to analyse the data. The results highlight HEIs achievements, which aim to ensure that all students receive the same level of education and provision in terms of devices and mental health support. However, challenges were also experienced at HEIs and include students feeling uncertainty and fear regarding completing their education. Furthermore, the results also show that not all students received the same level of education due to contextual factors, thus deepening the existing social disparities in Africa. The pandemic provides an opportunity for HEIs to embed the components of global citizenship education into the curriculum and to work in an innovative way to promote Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Toward a personhood-based theory of right action: Investigating the Covid-19 pandemic and religious conspiracy theories in Africa


 
 
 Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in religious conspiracy theories (henceforth RCTs) in Africa, ranging from outright denial, partial acceptance to spreading misinformation about the Coronavirus. This essay will argue that RCTs pose serious challenges to Covid-19 prevention by encouraging non-compliance to Covid-19 preventive measures and refusal to take Covid-19 vaccination. It will then formulate a personhood-based theory of right action. This new theory will be teased out of Ifeanyi Menkiti's account of the normative conception of personhood and deployed here as a veritable tool for overcoming the challenges posed by RCTs in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa.
 
 

Role of Library Associations in Supporting the Library Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the library sector, library associations are playing an important role in the promotion of librarianship as a profession vital to informed and knowledgeable society. The purpose of this study was to examine the role library associations played to improve access to information during the pandemic in Africa. The objectives of the study were to: find out the communication channels used by library associations to communicate with their members during the COVID-19 pandemic; challenges faced by the associations in communicating to its members during the lockdown; collaborations or partnerships the library associations developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep its members abreast of the new developments and recommend strategies to mitigate similar disasters in future. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured online questionnaire, involving both closed and open-ended questions. Most of the responses were from library associations in Central Africa (33.3%) and majority of the respondents were females (67%). The highest level of education attained by most of the library association’s President was a master’s degree (67%). Majority of the library associations have subscribed to IFLA and AfLIA. The major challenges faced by respondents’ library association were poor internet connection during the COVID-19 lockdown, technophobia and insufficient funds for data subscription. The pandemic had an effect on the strategic plan of the national library associations because their planned activities such as conducting national library conference were disrupted. This study therefore recommended the development of risk and disaster preparedness manuals and encouragement of more use of online information resources.

COVID-19 and the Resilience of Africa’s Peace and Security Networks

ABSTRACT Many commentators predicted that the impact of COVID-19 on Africa, with its high levels of under-development and weak public health systems, will be particularly catastrophic. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and economic sectors have exposed and compounded preexisting social, political, and environmental vulnerabilities, especially in conflict-affected countries and regions, and have severely stress-tested their social cohesion and resilience. Global and local peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts in Africa have also been significantly disrupted. More than 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, however, the emerging pattern is one of resilience rather than insecurity and chaos. This article assesses the disruption caused by COVID-19 to Africa’s peace and security networks and considers how a complexity informed Adaptive Peacebuilding approach can assist in strengthening community resilience and stimulating self-organized adaptive capacity. The spread of the virus is still increasing steadily, and the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. The question is what can African civil society, governments and multilateral organizations do to further strengthen and support the pattern of resilience that has emerged over the first 1 year of the COVID-19 crises in Africa? The author would like to recognize the invaluable research assistance of Neyma Mahomed Ali and the contribution of ACCORD’s COVID-19 Conflict and Resilience Monitor. The engagement with colleagues and contributors stimulated much of the analysis contained in this article.

Current State of COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: Lessons for Today and the Future.

This study is a cross-sectional, observational analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, to understand the progression of the disease across the continent. Published data on COVID-19 from 20 January 2020 to 21 June 2021 were obtained and analyzed. Case fatality ratios, as well as case growth rates and other indices were computed. On 21 June 2021, a total of 178,210,532 confirmed cases and 3,865,978 deaths had been recorded worldwide. While the Americas recorded the highest number of cases, Southern Africa recorded the majority of African cases. Fatality rate since from 20 February 2020 to 21 June 2021 was highest in the Americas (2.63%) and low in the South Eastern Asia region (1.39%), globally increasing from 2.17% at the end of January to 6.36% in May 2020 and decreasing to a range between 2.14% to 2.30% since January 2021. In Africa, the infection rate per 100,000 persons was up to 3090.18, while deaths per 100,000 and case fatality ratio were as high as 119.64 and 5.72%, respectively, among the 20 most-affected countries. The testing rate per million population was highest in Botswana (512,547.08). Fatality appears to be increasing in some regions of Africa. The rate of infection and fatality in Africa could still likely take an upward turn. Strict control measures are required, considering the continent’s weak healthcare systems.

HIV/AIDS Epidemic and COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa.

HIV/AIDS Epidemic and COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa.

Chronicling Country-Specific Response to Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa: From the Perspective of Ghana

Health is closely tied to human development and the overall development of a nation. Indeed, throughout history, improved public health has been a major determinant of development. Within this context, the consequences of infectious diseases including the novel Coronavirus are not in doubt. Particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic has destabilized the much-talked about world civilization with many nations still under various infection control measures. Globally, the pandemic has resulted in several losses in the areas of jobs, income, government revenues, foreign direct investments, among others. Beyond the incalculable economic losses, the pandemic constitutes a great threat to physical, social and mental health. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, several studies have been conducted on the experiences of different countries to help deepen global knowledge on the pandemic. This review paper chronicles the Ghanaian experience of COVID-19 and attempts to probe whether the country’s overall response to the disease is worthy of emulation by other nations. Part one introduces the paper by looking at the intersection of health and development, a brief history of COVID-19, challenges associated with the pandemic and measures some countries have employed to rebuild their economies. Part two describes the key issues underpinning the spread of the virus in Ghana whilst part three considers the efforts key stakeholders employed to contain and manage the spread of the virus. Part four focuses on the challenges Ghana has faced in the management of the pandemic whereas the concluding part presents the core issues which should engage the attention of stakeholders. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation, social risk amplification and attenuation theory, health services, development DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/97-03 Publication date: August 31 st 2021

Health knowledge and non-pharmaceutical interventions during the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa

Providing health information is a non-pharmaceutical intervention designed to reduce disease transmission and infection risk by encouraging behavior change. But does knowledge change behavior? We test whether coronavirus health knowledge promotes protective risk mitigation behaviors early in the Covid-19 pandemic in samples from four African countries (Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania). Despite reputations for weak health sectors and low average levels of education, health knowledge of the symptoms and transmission mechanisms was high in all countries in the two months after the virus entered the country. Higher knowledge was associated with increased protective measures that would likely lower disease risk with one exception–knowledge was inversely correlated with social distancing. Respondents largely adhered to mask mandates and lockdowns, but continued coming into contact with others at small, informal gatherings, gatherings not affected by mandates. Knowledge alone did not reduce all risky activities, especially gatherings within other people’s homes. Even early in the pandemic, income loss or stress were commonly reported. Our results suggest that early and consistent government provision of health information likely reduced the initial severity of the pandemic in Africa but was not a panacea.

Abstract 11: Neglected Elements of Cancer Control During The COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: Call for Action from 2019-2020 African Cancer Research and Control ECHO Programme

Abstract Purpose: As the world is learning to live with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there is a shift in cancer control priorities and focus, with innovations to ensure continuity of cancer treatment and patient support during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, cancer control requires a comprehensive approach to minimize cancer incidence, mortality and improve the quality of life of those living with cancer. Hence, this analysis aimed to identify areas of cancer control affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that would equally affect cancer incidence, morbidity and mortality in Africa. Methods: The Africa Cancer Research and Control ECHO® Programme (Africa Cancer ECHO) is a community of practice that meets in an online platform to discuss cancer control challenges and solutions in the Africa region. The Africa Cancer ECHO conducted eleven sessions from April to August 2020 about the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, its impact on cancer control in Africa, and country-level practices as presented through case and didactic presentations. Sessions were analysed thematically to identify elements of cancer control that are adversely affected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they have been addressed. Results: HPV vaccination, cancer screening and early detection services, palliative care (PC) services, and cancer registration were particularly adversely affected, and in many cases have not yet resumed in some African countries. Recommendations included: use of affordable point of care HPV tests with immediate results; introducing COVID-19 testing along with HPV-testing; transitioning PC services from hospice to home care; and embracing Information Technology to enhance cancer registration. Conclusion: Cancer prevention, screening, supportive care, and surveillance services need to be urgently revitalised in Africa. The Africa Cancer ECHO platform highlights the need for generation of locally-relevant, evidence-based strategies that will safeguard past gains and continue to maximize the reduction of cancer incidence, morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Citation Format: Annet Nakaganda, Nwamaka Lasebikan, Elise M. Garton, Benda Kithaka, Mishka K. Cira. Neglected Elements of Cancer Control During The COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: Call for Action from 2019-2020 African Cancer Research and Control ECHO Programme [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 9th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; Global Cancer Research and Control: Looking Back and Charting a Path Forward; 2021 Mar 10-11. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2021;30(7 Suppl):Abstract nr 11.

COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: Is it time for water, sanitation and hygiene to climb up the ladder of global priorities?

In the current pandemic context, it is necessary to remember the lessons learned from previous outbreaks in Africa, where the incidence of other diseases could rise if most resources are directed to tackle the emergency. Improving the access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) could be a win-win strategy, because the lack of these services not only hampers the implementation of preventive measures against SARS-CoV-2 (e.g. proper handwashing), but it is also connected to high mortality diseases (for example, diarrhoea and lower respiratory infections (LRI)). This study aims to build on the evidence-based link between other LRI and WASH as a proxy for exploring the potential vulnerability of African countries to COVID-19, as well as the role of other socioeconomic variables such as financial sources or demographic factors. The selected methodology combines several machine learning techniques to single out the most representative variables for the analysis, classify the countries according to their capacity to tackle public health emergencies and identify behavioural patterns for each group. Besides, conditional dependences between variables are inferred through a Bayesian network. Results show a strong relationship between low access to WASH services and high LRI mortality rates, and that migrant remittances could significantly improve the access to healthcare and WASH services. However, the role of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in enhancing WASH facilities in the most vulnerable countries cannot be disregarded, but it is unevenly distributed: for each 50–100 US$ of ODA per capita, the probability of directing more than 3 US$ to WASH ranges between 48% (Western Africa) and 8% (Central Africa).

Epidemiology and Genetic Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 Lineages Circulating in Africa

COVID-19 disease dynamics have been widely studied in different settings around the globe, but little is known about these patterns in the African continent. To investigate the epidemiology and genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Africa, more than 2400 complete genomes from 33 African countries were retrieved from the GISAID database and analyzed. We investigated their diversity using various clade and lineage nomenclature systems, reconstructed their evolutionary divergence and history using maximum likelihood inference methods, and studied the case and death trends in the continent. We also examined potential repeat patterns and motifs across the sequences.In this study, we show that after almost one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 143 out of the 782 Pango lineages found worldwide circulated in Africa, with five different lineages dominating in distinct periods of the pandemic. Analysis of the number of reported deaths in Africa also revealed large heterogeneity across the continent. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that African viruses cluster closely with those from all continents but more notably with viruses from Europe. However, the extent of viral diversity observed among African genomes is closest to that of the Oceania outbreak, most likely due to genomic under-surveillance in Africa. We also identified two motifs that could function as integrin-binding sites and N-glycosylation domains. These results shed light on the evolutionary dynamics of the circulating viral strains in Africa, elucidate the functions of protein motifs present in the genome sequences, and emphasize the need to expand genomic surveillance efforts in the continent to better understand the molecular, evolutionary, epidemiological, and spatiotemporal dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

COVID-19 waves in Africa: Effects of outbreak response and interventions

Introduction: Public health safety measures have been advocated for towards the effective containment of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the effects of public health safety measures (PHSM) implemented during different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the COVID-19 control measures implemented across Africa. We extracted and collated data on COVID-19 cases, deaths, and stringency level (SL) from online data repositories between 18 July, 2020 and 18 December, 2020 in Africa. Results: In the South African region, COVID-19 cases increased when there was partial closure of work sectors (SL = 41.67), but decreased with complete closure of work sectors (SL=46.30) in South Africa. In North Africa, COVID-19 cases increased when there was limited contact tracing (SL = 23.15), but decreased with comprehensive contact tracing (SL = 75.00) in Tunisia. In West Africa, COVID-19 cases increased when there was partial school closure (SL = 50.93), but decreased with complete school closure (SL = 65.74) in Nigeria. In East Africa, COVID-19 cases increased when contact tracing was limited (SL = 28.70), but decreased with comprehensive contact tracing (SL = 51.85) in Sudan. In Central Africa, COVID-19 cases increased when there was partial school closure (SL = 43.52), but decreased with complete school closure (SL = 56.48) in Congo. Conclusion: PHSM should be intensified to ensure the effective containment of COVID-19 in Africa. Evidence-based decisions should be made by policy makers and contextualized in each African country as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.

Unity Is Strength: Covid-19 and Regionalism in Africa

ABSTRACT In addition to the strategies of individual countries, a regional approach has been adopted in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa, which has largely helped to mitigate its effects. Under the auspices of the African Union, the Africa Centres for Disease Control has taken the lead in responding to the pandemic on the continent. In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States has supported member states with funding to purchase test kits, while the West Africa Health Organisation provides daily reports on infections, recoveries and deaths. Differences in the capacity of African states to address the pandemic and its economic implications could pose long-term challenges in containing the spread of the virus as well as ensuring economic recovery. The porous borders between many countries in Africa present additional challenges and opportunities for a regional response to Covid-19. For the future, there is the need to build more regional health infrastructures that can help the continent manage new epidemic outbreaks.