Strategic Response to COVID-19 in the WHO African Region

SPRP 2022 for the WHO African Region covers the COVID-19 pandemic response, preparedness and resilience planning from 31 January 2022 to 31 March 2023. This version offers an opportunity for a mid-year reflection on the pandemic,  and revisits the crisis in a context of evolving epidemiological and consequent social and political landscapes.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30th January 2020 and a pandemic on 11th March 2020. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General requested all countries to adopt a “Whole-of-Government, Whole- of-Society” approach built around a comprehensive strategy to prevent infections, save lives and minimize the impact1.

The year 2021, the second of Africa’s battle against COVID-19, proved difficult. Challenges were heightened by the increasingly severe third and fourth waves of the pandemic, and global COVID-19 vaccine inequity. For WHO African Region countries, these challenges were compounded by a range of other humanitarian crises, with 38 of the 47 countries experiencing some level of food shortage; reasons varied from extreme weather events to political crises or conflicts, further hindering the pandemic response.

The COVID-19 crisis has permanently altered the global health landscape, even as African countries continue to battle multiple, complex humanitarian crises, shutdowns of health programmes and clinical services, pandemic fatigue, an exhausted workforce, and the economic fallout.

The COVID-19 epidemiological situation is evolving rapidly and expanding geographically in affected countries. The WHO African Region has witnessed a significant increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases with over 200 new confirmed cases reported daily. Of the 47 countries in the WHO African Region, 46 countries have reported confirmed cases with local transmission occurring now in most of the countries.

Since the first imported case of COVID-19 was reported in the WHO African Region in February 2020, responses of varying adequacy have been provided by all the countries in the Region with the coordinated support of the Regional Office and all the partners. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected, albeit to varying magnitudes, all the 47 countries of the Region, inducing significant socioeconomic impacts.