Search
Close this search box.
GBC
GHANA WEATHER

Covid-19: WHO warns African countries against easing of restrictions following dwindling cases

Passengers boarding a bus in Lagos being given hand sanitiser. IMAGE: REUTERS
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Pinterest

It is obvious that globally, the number of new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases overall has been dropping, although some countries are still seeing a rise in cases.

The WHO says the COVID-19 outbreak in Africa may have passed its peak, but warns governments not to be complacent as countries relax their restrictions.

GBC’s Rebecca Ekpe has been reading about the latest on the COVID-19 vaccine and why some experts are making a case that Africa needs to be fundamentally very much involved in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

The COVID-19 pandemic no doubt continues to exact a toll on the health front, with about 25.5 million cases and 851,000 deaths documented as of September 1, 2020.

Reports say there have been limited capabilities and capacity even in high-income countries to undertake adequate testing of suspected cases with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, which is further exacerbated by the majority of adults (40%-60%) and children under 18 years (80%) likely to be asymptomatic.

In Africa, the capabilities to test for SARS-CoV-2 infection is severely constrained because of limited laboratory capacity.

Even though the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that about 43 sub-Saharan African countries have the ability to test for COVID-19, these are generally only available at a single central laboratory.

Consequently, such testing facilities would be of limited value in quantifying the burden of COVID-19 in many of these sub-Saharan African countries.

Furthermore, the limited test capabilities are compounded by the high costs of such tests, and the global shortage of testing materials.

Africa remains almost totally dependent on vaccine developers and manufacturers in other continents for access to vaccines.

Sadly, there has not been any discovery of a new vaccine that has been led by African scientists, largely a consequence of the systematic under-investment on the part of governments and the private sector in the field of research and development.

This, unfortunately places Africa at an immediate disadvantage in accessing vaccines, and perpetuates its dependency on non-African countries.

This, despite political talk about Africa needing to prioritize vaccine-manufacturing capabilities, with very little progress having occurred since the adoption by the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa in February 2016 of a resolution to promote and invest in regional capacity for the development and production of vaccines.

Fortunately, African scientists have been more involved in collaborating with international institutions in the clinical evaluation of vaccines, albeit in many sub-Saharan African countries, often under the leadership of investigators from high-income country institutions.

Of the 26 COVID-19 vaccines currently in human trials, only two are being conducted in Africa.

Nine countries account for 77% of the total tests conducted – South Africa, Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda.

There are wide variations in testing rates, with South Africa doing the most and Nigeria doing relatively few per capita.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated his oft-stated promise that developing countries, specifically those in Africa, will receive priority access to a Chinese-produced COVID-19 vaccine when it is available for distribution.

Interestingly, China is not the only country in the fight for vaccine market share in Africa.

Russia, who claims that its Sputnik V vaccine is ready even though it has not undergone the same extensive clinical trials as vaccines under development in other countries, has already signed deals to distribute its COVID-19 treatment to 20 countries including Algeria.

While the vaccine push in Africa plays out between Russia and China, the US and European countries have remained noticeably silent.

Neither President Donald Trump nor any EU leader has offered any indication that a future vaccine produced by their countries would be made available for free to African countries.

Over the past weeks, there has been an average 10% fall in the number of weekly new COVID-19 cases being reported, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

But the CDC warns that Africa is not out of the woods yet.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT