catastrophic situation the world is going through on the sidelines of
the recently held virtual G-20 meeting chaired by Saudi Arabia. He
referred to two wars the world is facing: against the killer virus and
the weakening of the world economy. Subsumed in predicament are many
sub-factors that are posing threats including fragile health systems
in Africa, South Asian and Latin American countries, near halt of the
global production and distribution architecture, food shortages,
uncertainty about the period of the pandemic trajectory and most
importantly the elusive medically approved a treatment protocol for
the disease including testing equipment and a scientifically proven
preventive care.Admittedly, G-20 called specifically to address the COVID-19, did
express the commitment to unveil a bold and large scale fiscal
support, which they claimed, would get the world economy back on
rails. The statement issued after the summit did mention about the
threats faced by countries in the developing world — especially in
Africa and small island nations — whose health systems and economies
are fragile. Of course, the statement of intent cannot spell out the
follow-up measures. Yet, the situation demands that between now and
the real action, time lag should be virtually “nil” to ward off one
of the greatest disasters the world has faced in recent history.
Apart from the weak healthcare network, Africa faces mind-boggling
challenges to prepare itself for the menacing pandemic to hold the
bull by the horns. The continent needs a stockpile of critical medical
supplies including masks, ventilators, gowns, experienced doctors,
nurses and para-medical staff and well-appointed quarantine facilities
on an urgent basis. The continent is terribly short of these critical
resources. A recent survey carried out by our portal
www.trendsnafrica.com and Africa4U have revealed that among the 54
countries, a large number of countries cannot claim resemblance of a
healthcare infrastructure and are challenged by lack of hospitals,
testing equipment, medicines and importantly trained medical staff.
In the given situation, there are some options that can be tried.
Foremost is pooling of medical manpower of the continent and making
them available to all countries. South Africa can take a lead in this
though it is the most affected country in the pandemic. Secondly,
medical help can be extended through telemedicine so that the medical
consultations and awareness building can be done by expert doctors
from outside the continent. Deployment of drones for supplying
medical accessories like masks, gloves, gowns etc can be carried out
in far-flung inaccessible places. Of course, these need good financial
packages. Along with G-20 countries, private initiatives like what
Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundation, Melinda Gates Foundation can chip in
their expertise at this critical time. www.trendsnafrica.com &
Africa4U pledge our commitment to play the role of an interlocutor in
bringing like -minded in an aggressive COVID-19 response program for
the continent.
Striking, indeed, is a clarion call given by British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson who implored governments to work together “to create
a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it available to anyone who
needs it” while pledging an additional US$255 million to that
effort. Let that be a reality not alone for this time but to protect
mankind forever from the killer virus.
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