Feature Stories

In the small village of Sinkolé in the densely-forested south-east of Guinea, scores of men and women gather outside a ramshackle community hall on a Friday morning. Marius Djo, a World Health Organization (WHO) advisor on Prevention of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (PSEA), waits for everyone to take a seat on old wooden school benches arranged in a rough semi-circle, then he begins an animated introduction.

Financial planning is crucial for Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Millions of vaccine deliveries are planned for later this year and African countries must urgently plan ahead to quickly roll them out and avoid unplanned costs. The World Bank estimates that each month of delay in the provision of COVID-19 vaccines could cost Africa US$ 14 billion in lost GDP. 

With COVID-19 vaccine supplies to Africa slowing down, the continent is working to boost its own manufacturing capacities for vaccines, medicines and vital health technologies.

The emergence of COVID-19 and the pandemic have raised many challenges regarding treatment and spawned the use of unproven therapies. Professor Lucille Blumberg, the Deputy Director of the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases, discusses the causes, the risks and how to tackle unproven COVID-19 cures.

Africa’s largest-ever vaccination drive is well under way. Forty-nine African countries are rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and over 22 million doses have been given on the continent. Valuable lessons are emerging, but major risks and challenges threaten Africa’s fragile gains.

On a sultry morning in early March in the small town of Gouécké in south-eastern Guinea, scores of concerned community and customary leaders gathered for a meeting with WHO’s local team of social anthropologists.

Vaccines save millions of lives each year. In August 2020, Africa crossed a historic milestone when it was certified as free of wild polio. Vaccination drives, reaching up to 220 million African children multiple times every year, were integral to achieving this historic milestone.

With 47 African countries now rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and over 17 million doses given on the continent, early insights from Africa’s largest-ever immunization drive offer hope, inspiration and early, yet vital lessons. Here, we shine a light on key lessons emerging from countries that have made strong progress, including Angola, Ghana, Mauritius and Rwanda.

Clara Magalasi, who lives in a rural village near Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, woke up to a grey morning with a dull sky that was threatening rain. For Clara, the weather did not stop her from walking 4 kilometers to Chileka Health Centre. Her daughter Grace Butawo, who just turned 22 months, was due for her fourth and final dose of the RTS,S malaria vaccine. According to Clara, she was conscious about the dates to take her child for the final dose of the malaria vaccine as she understands its benefits.

Over the past two decades, the world has made great progress in reducing malaria cases and deaths, but the pace has stalled in many high malaria burden African countries. Global malaria cases dropped by 29% between 2000 and 2019, but only by 2% between 2015 and 2019 when deaths fell by 15% compared with 60% between 2000 and 2019. Professor Francis Omaswa, Executive Director, African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation, explains what needs to be done to get malaria control and prevention back on track