Coronavirus: WHO decries ‘negligent’ safety planning for African frontline health workers

26 Juin 2020

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,  June 26 (Infosplusgabon) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, has decried the lack of proper protection for frontline healthcare workers handling the coronavirus pandemic in Africa, which has exposed scores to higher rates of infection.

Tedros, while addressing an African Union (AU) meeting convened to discuss Africa’s involvement in the search for a coronavirus vaccine, said a recent survey showed only 22% of African countries, which is 15 countries, had developed a proper plan for the protection and safety of the frontline health workers.

The laxity in the protection of the healthcare workers is a result of the lack of proper protective equipment for the health workers, including clothing, masks and in some instances, poor handling.

The WHO Director-General said the organisation was continuing to support African countries with life-saving medical supplies. These include more than 22 million items of personal protective equipment sent to almost all countries in Africa.

He said WHO helped to plan the shipment of oxygen equipment, ventilators and other essential supplies to countries in Africa. With WHO support, most African countries have made progress in ensuring their national response to the pandemic was much better improved, but more is needed.

Tedros said while most countries were registering great strides in combating the pandemic, major gaps such as the protection of frontline health workers, the disruption in key public health services such as maternal health, immunization and the campaigns against malaria, remained.

He said the gaps and vulnerabilities in Africa were such that only 22% of the countries in Africa had an occupational safety plan for health workers.

The fight against coronavirus has been complicated. African countries including Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, have reported varied cases of medical workers catching the coronavirus while on duty. The figures including deaths reported in some countries are a cause of concern to the WHO.

In Kenya, the local media reported a recent case of 34 healthcare workers at Nairobi’s main maternity hospital being put on quarantine after coming into contact with an infected patient. At least 88 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus disease in Kenya, according to health ministry officials.

The WHO figures, dated 9 June, showed nearly 2,200 health workers infected by the virus in South Africa, 800 in Nigeria and less than 200 health workers in Ghana testing positive for the virus.

The spread of the coronavirus has affected most essential health services as patients shy away from going to hospitals, which are also experiencing challenges, leading to the partial closure or complete service interruptions.

Tedros regretted that some critical health services were likely to lag behind due to the pandemic. A recent WHO survey showed 70% of the countries have reported routine interruptions in immunization, family planning, mental health and reproductive health services due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He also warned that the disruptions to the immunization, HIV/AIDS and malaria campaigns threatens to pull back Africa’s social development from decades of progress and the impact of the pandemic is expected to go far beyond.

Meanwhile, all countries in Africa have a response and preparedness plan to respond to the coronavirus compared to a few weeks when the pandemic began.

All countries in Africa now have laboratory testing capacity for COVID-19, the WHO chief said.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/DFG/GABON2020

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