President Cyril Ramaphosa says although there have been severe shortcomings such as the shortage of personal protective equipment, testing kits and ventilators in responding to the outbreak of COVID-19, African government have been swift and proactive in implementing measures to flatten the curve of the virus.
Writing in his weekly letter, the president noted that the countries in Global South were more vulnerable to the impacts of Coronavirus due to low levels of development, insufficient resources and weak health systems.
“Countries ranking low on human development indices, many of which are in Africa, are less capable to manage the fallout of a global health emergency of this kind on their own. Yet at the same time, some of the very health challenges African countries have wrestled with for decades have given us a clear understanding of what needs to be done, and how to do it,” he said.
Ramaphosa, who is the chairperson of the African Union (AU), used his weekly message to mark the 57th anniversary of the formation of the Organisation of African Union, the precursor of AU, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1963.
As comments came as the number of those who have tested positive stood at 111, 348, with 1 348 deaths recorded.
Ramaphosa said African countries drew on their experience in dealing with diseases such as HIV and TB in deploying community health workers to do screening, testing, contact tracing and case management in fighting Coronavirus.
African nations have also joined the race to produce test kits, with Senegal in an advanced stage of developing a low-cost testing kit, he said.
“At least 25 African countries have registered clinical trials for possible COVID-19 treatments, including for the BCG vaccine, hydroxychloroquine, antiretrovirals and Remdesivir, and as part of the global Solidarity clinical trials,” he said.
