A network of community health agents that has helped Nigeria curb polio is taking on a new task: deploying its early detection know-how to raise the alarm on suspected COVID-19 infection as the virus continues to spread.
Read moreCotonou – After the first case of COVID-19 was announced in Benin on the 16 March, within four days, the West African nation had set up a range of digital platforms to help combat both the spread of the disease and what …
Read moreLike many African countries now making use of Ebola and Influenza preparedness to step up their COVID-19 response, Tanzania is tapping into the skills of health workers already knowledgeable in infectious disease control, established influenza sentinel surveillance system and repurposing facilities to tackle the new virus.
Read moreIn Beni General Hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the neonatal ward is full beyond capacity. A row of young women sits on benches outside, proudly holding their newborns. For nurse Espérance Kavira Kavota, this is a welcome return to normal.
Read moreAs staff deployment to support countries becomes unfeasible due to travel restrictions and shutdowns implemented by several African countries to halt the spread of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa today launched the first online training for emergency responders to bolster efforts in tackling the virus. The two-hour session via video link drew 500 participants and focused on the clinical symptoms of the virus, how to triage COVID-19 cases, treat complications, manage severely ill patients, laboratory testing strategy as well as quarantine strategies.
Read moreThe World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa hosted its first virtual ‘hackathon’ bringing together 100 leading innovators from across sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to pioneer creative local solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic and address critical gaps in the regional response.
Read moreWhen the Kenyan Government announced the country’s first case of COVID-19, clinician Jackson Njoroge was already hard at work. He and his colleagues from the Kenyan Ministry of Health’s Rapid Response Team had already drawn up a list of people who might have come into contact with the first patient. Now they were rushing to find them. His mission was to find another passenger from the flight that had brought Kenya’s case into the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already helped train 1,500 Kenyan health workers in various health facilities to prepare for just this situation. With the announcement, the country’s government and WHO Office shifted from a state of readiness to response mode.
Read moreThe World Health Organization (WHO) officially designated COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020. There are now 147 confirmed cases in Africa in 15 countries, and there have been four COVID-19-related deaths.
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