Low Rate of COVID-19 Infection in Africa Result of Strong Political Leadership, Coordination: Africa CDC

Addis Ababa, February 4/2022/ENA/The low rate of COVID-19 infection in Africa is the result of the strong political leadership of the continent and the close coordination of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) with other partners, Director of Africa CDC Dr. John Nkengasong said.

The director said the rate of COVID-19 infection in Africa is one of the lowest when compared with the rest of the world.

“The continent has been fighting strongly against COVID-19. If you compare the rate of infection in Africa with the rest of the world, Africa is one of the continents with lowest rate of infection.”

Dr. Nkengasong attributed the achievement to the strong political leadership of the continent, along with the close collaboration of Africa CDC and other partners that have played a critical role in lowering COVID-19 infection rate in Africa.

“The strong political leadership of the continent has played a critical role. The coordination that Africa CDC has worked very closely with other partners also played a critical role. So, these lessons must be documented and we are encouraging that the continent continuously use that approach – an approach that requires coordination, cooperation, collaboration and communication.”

There is, however, a need to increase the ability of the continent to manufacture vaccines in order to effectively fight the pandemic, he noted.

“As a continent we need to increase the ability to manufacture vaccines, diagnosis, and pharmaceuticals as well as our work force and develop strong public health institutions similar to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.”

According to Dr. Nkengasong, the vaccination rate of COVID-19 in Africa is still around 11 percent.

“I hope more vaccines will come to the continent; and we should develop a right partnership similar to the partnership we have with Master Card Foundation, which is 1.5 billion USD partnership, to scale up vaccination on the continent and get to 17 percent by the end of this year,” he pointed out.

USA, China and European countries are currently supporting many African countries with vaccination programs, it was learned.