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As countries prepare for eventual COVID-19 vaccines, experts caution that falling immunization coverage could lead to outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases, could this lead to future further breakouts that could prove costly to many African economies? DR. Phionah Atuhebwe, The Regional New Vaccines Introduction Officer World Health Organisation spoke to CNBC Africa for more.

COVID-19: How the pandemic has exacerbated risks of other immunisable diseases

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Pfizer and BioNTech have recently started phase III trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. This comes at a time when a joint the Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine for COVID-19 formed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union Commission for Social Affairs has endorsed a protocol for phase III clinical trials of herbal medicine for COVID-19 so what is the current state for clinical trials on the continent? Dr. Thomas Nyirenda, Director of Programs at the Africa Academy of Sciences joins CNBC Africa for more.

COVID-19: Africa Academy of Sciences on the state of clinical trials in Africa

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Africa’s overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when COVID-19 hit the continent in February.



The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year.



In May the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that 190,000 people on the continent could die if containment measures failed. Yet as the world marks 1 million COVID-19 deaths, Africa is doing much better than expected, with a lower percentage of deaths than other continents.



The continent’s case fatality count stands at 2.4%, with roughly 35,000 deaths among the more than 1.4 million people reported infected with COVID-19, according to Reuters data as at late Monday. In North America, it is 2.9% and in Europe 4.5%



Hard-hit countries such as Italy and Britain have recorded fatality counts of 11.6% and 9.0% respectively, compared to 1.6% for Ethiopia, 1.9% for Nigeria and 2.4% for South Africa, the continent’s worst affected country.



Hospitals in many African countries say COVID-19 admission rates are falling.



“Based on what we have seen so far it is unlikely that we are going to see anything at the scale that we are seeing in Europe &#8211; both in terms of infections and mortality,” said Rashida Ferrand, a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine professor working at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the Zimbabwean capital Harare.



Experts say that some COVID-19 deaths in Africa probably are being missed. Testing rates in the continent of about 1.3 billion people are among the lowest in the world, and many deaths of all types go unrecorded.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382893" width="696" height="803" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-887x1024.jpg 887w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-260x300.jpg 260w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-693x800.jpg 693w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-768x887.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-1330x1536.jpg 1330w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-scaled.jpg 1774w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-696x804.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-1068x1233.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dr-Matshidiso-Moeti-WHO-Regional-Director-for-Africa-1920x2217.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px" /><figcaption>The head of the WHO for Africa. Matshidiso Moeti</figcaption></figure>



South Africa saw some 17,000 extra deaths from natural causes between early May and mid-July, 59% more than would normally be expected, according to a July report from the South African Medical Research Council. That suggests the death toll from COVID-19 could be significantly higher than the official figure, currently over 16,000, researchers say. Even so, there is wide agreement that COVID-19 fatality rates have not so far been as bad as predicted.



Why? Scientists and public health experts cite a number of possible factors, including the continent’s youthful population and lessons learned from previous disease outbreaks. African governments also had precious time to prepare due to the relative isolation of many of their citizens from airports and other places where they could come into contact with global travellers.



Some scientists also are exploring the possibility that a tuberculosis vaccine routinely given to children in many African countries might be helping reduce deaths from COVID-19.



Another theory being considered is whether prior exposure to other coronaviruses including those that cause the common cold has provided a degree of resistance in some of the very communities once thought to be most vulnerable.



“There is a lot of circumstantial evidence,” Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious disease specialist who has advised the government on COVID-19, told Reuters, “but there is no smoking gun.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">LESSONS LEARNED</h2>



The virus hit Africa later than other continents, giving medical personnel time to set up field hospitals, source oxygen and ventilators, and learn from improvements in treatment elsewhere.Slideshow&nbsp;( 3 images )



“We got the gift of time,” said Thumbi Mwangi, senior research fellow at the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases. “We had an amount of preparation that others did not.”



One reason could be that international travel is limited in many African countries, and travelling domestically can be more difficult than on other continents, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, told a news conference on Thursday.



The continent’s governments have also battled deadly infectious diseases such as Ebola, which killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa in 2013-16. So officials took notice when the new coronavirus started spreading around the globe rapidly early this year.



Many African countries were quick to introduce screening at airports, suspend flights from heavily affected nations and enforce social distancing measures and mask wearing.



Within a week of Kenya reporting its first case, schools were shut, incoming travellers had to undergo a mandatory quarantine and large gatherings were banned. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, imposed a ban on interstate travel and a curfew. Many of its land borders had already been closed since August 2019 to cut down on smuggling, which helped fight the pandemic too.



South Africa introduced one of the world’s toughest lockdowns in late March, when the country had confirmed just 400 cases.



“Africa brought down the hammer earlier in terms of coronavirus lockdowns,” said Tim Bromfield, regional director for East and Southern Africa at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a U.K.-based think tank.







Experts also point to the continent’s demographics.



Research has found that the risk of developing severe COVID-19 increases with age.



A 2019 United Nations report said 62% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population was under 25 and just 3% 65 or over. In the U.N.’s Europe and North America region, 28% were under 25 while 18% were age 65 and up.



Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, attributed his country’s relatively low case mortality rate in part to the fact that the majority of patients were between the ages of 31 and 40.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CROSS-PROTECTION?</h2>



Scientists in several countries including South Africa are testing whether the century-old Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, widely used on the continent against tuberculosis, provides a degree of cross-protection.



BCG vaccines have been shown to protect against other viral respiratory illnesses, and a study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July found that countries with higher vaccination rates for tuberculosis had lower peak mortality rates from COVID-19.



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Studies have also started in South Africa and Zimbabwe to assess the impact of past exposure to other coronaviruses.



More than half of Africa’s urban population is concentrated in slums, where access to water for hand washing is scarce, and physical distancing is near-impossible.



Diseases spread rapidly under such conditions, but some scientists wonder whether that may have been an unexpected boon in this case. There is some evidence that T cells developed by the body’s immune system after exposure to other common cold coronaviruses could help fight off COVID-19.



“I would say that is at least a plausible explanation as to why there are different levels of resistance to the virus in different populations,” said Thomas Scriba, an immunologist and deputy director of the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative.



Others are more sceptical.



“All other regions have been exposed to coronaviruses, have poor people and slums and have received BCG vaccination,” said Humphrey Karamagi, team leader for data and analytics at the WHO’s Africa office. “We are most probably looking at a mix of multiple factors working together &#8211; and not a single magic bullet.”



For Sam Agatre Okuonzi, from the Arua Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda, the doomsday predictions were informed by entrenched prejudices, including that the continent is prone to disease.



“COVID-19 has shattered a lot of biases about disease in general but also about Africa,” he told Thursday’s briefing. “The severity of the pandemic has not played out in line with the outrageous predictions.”

Clarification on COVID-19 “hotspots” as SA moves to level 3 lockdown

How Africa fought COVID-19

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After three consecutive years of no recorded outbreak of polio, the World Health Organisation says Nigeria&#8217;s wild polio-free status has been accepted by the Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC). A delegation from the World Health Organisation will present the certification to Nigeria&#8217;s President Buhari today. Anisur Rahman Siddique, Head of Immunization and Health Systems at UNICEF joins CNBC Africa for more.

Nigeria to receive polio free certification from the World Health Organisation

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization warned on Monday that, despite strong hopes for a vaccine, there might never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19, and the road to normality would be long.



More than 18.14 million people around the world are reported to have been infected with the disease and 688,080​ have died, according to a Reuters tally, with some nations that thought they were over the worst experiencing a resurgence.



WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan exhorted all nations to rigorously enforce health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing and testing.



“The message to people and governments is clear: ‘Do it all’,” Tedros told a virtual news briefing from the U.N. body’s headquarters in Geneva. He said face masks should become a symbol of solidarity round the world.



“A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment &#8211; and there might never be.”



Ryan said countries with high transmission rates, including Brazil and India, needed to brace for a big battle: “The way out is long and requires a sustained commitment.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">INVESTIGATION</h3>



The WHO officials said an advance investigation team was not yet back from China, where the virus originated.



A larger, WHO-led team of Chinese and international experts is planned next, to study the origins of the virus in the city of Wuhan, although the timing and composition of that is not yet clear.



Tedros urged mothers to continue breastfeeding even if they had COVID-19, as the benefits “substantially” outweighed the risks of infection.



The WHO head said that, while the coronavirus was the biggest global health emergency since the early 20th century, the international hunt for a vaccine was also historic.



“There are many vaccines under trial, a couple in the final stage of clinical trials &#8211; and there is hope. It does not mean that we will have the vaccine, but at least the speed with which we reached the level we reached now is unprecedented,” he said.



“There are concerns that we may not have a vaccine that may work, or its protection could be for just a few months, not more. But until we finish the clinical trials, we will not know.”

Dr Matshidiso Moeti – WHO Regional Director for Africa

There may never be a ‘silver bullet’ for COVID-19, WHO warns

GENEVA/ZURICH (Reuters) &#8211; Researchers are making “good progress” in developing vaccines against COVID-19, with a handful in late-stage trials, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Wednesday.



WHO is working to ensure fair vaccine distribution, but in the meantime it is key to suppress the virus’s spread, said Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies programme, as daily new cases around the globe are at near-record levels.



“We’re making good progress,” Ryan said, noting that several vaccines were now in phase 3 trials and none had failed, so far, in terms of safety or ability to generate an immune response.



“Realistically it is going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated,” he told a public event on social media.



WHO was working to expand access to potential vaccines and to help scale-up production capacity, Ryan said.



“And we need to be fair about this, because this is a global good. Vaccines for this pandemic are not for the wealthy, they are not for the poor, they are for everybody,” he said.



The U.S. government will pay $1.95 billion to buy 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech if it proves safe and effective, the companies said.



Ryan also cautioned schools to be careful about re-opening until community transmission of COVID-19 is under control. Debate in the United States over restarting education has intensified, even as the pandemic flares up in dozens of states.



“We have to do everything possible to bring our children back to school, and the most effective thing we can do is to stop the disease in our community,” he said. “Because if you control the disease in the community, you can open the schools.”

Don’t expect first COVID-19 vaccinations until early 2021 – WHO’s Ryan

(Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours.



The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths rose by 7,360, the biggest one-day increase since May 10. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4,600 a day in June.



Total global coronavirus cases surpassed 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 600,000 people in seven months. The surge means that 1 million cases were reported in under 100 hours.



The WHO reported 71,484 new cases in the United States, 45,403 in Brazil, 34,884 in India and 13,373 in South Africa.



India on Friday became the third country in the world to record more than 1 million cases of the new coronavirus, behind only the United States and Brazil. Epidemiologists say India is still likely months from hitting its peak.



Cases in Brazil crossed the 2 million mark on Thursday, doubling in less than a month and adding nearly 40,000 new cases a day. A patchwork of state and city responses has held up poorly in Brazil in the absence of a tightly coordinated policy from the federal government.



The United States, which leads with world with over 3.7 million cases, has also tried to curb the outbreak at the state and local levels with only limited success.

WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases for second day in a row

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; African countries must carry out more coronavirus testing and make people use masks, a regional disease control body said on Thursday as cases topped half a million in the continent.





New cases in Africa were up 24% over the past week, with data from governments and the World Health Organization showing it had 512,499 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 11,930 deaths.



“The pandemic is gaining full momentum,” John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a virtual news briefing from Addis Ababa.



Nkengasong said African countries, many of which do not have reliable data, must adopt an aggressive approach to encourage the wearing of face masks and ramp up testing and tracing.



“This will save lives and save (the) economy.”



Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Algeria account for 71% of infections on the continent, Nkengasong said.



Some governments have been reluctant to acknowledge epidemics or to expose crumbling health systems to outside scrutiny, while others are either too poor or conflict-ridden to carry out significant testing.



Nkengasong said it was inevitable that as cases rise, hospitals will become overwhelmed.



“That is something that is happening already. We will continue to see it as the pandemic expands,” he added.



Although many have also started gradually easing lockdowns to reopen hard-hit economies, governments are conscious that opening up too quickly could lead to a spike in new cases.



The African Union Commission said on Thursday it had launched a consortium for vaccine clinical trials to be headed by the Africa CDC, which aimed to secure more than 10 late stage vaccine clinical trials as early as possible.



South Africa and Egypt are already running human trials for a potential vaccine.

Africa urged to test more as coronavirus cases exceed 500,000

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that it was setting up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by governments.



The announcement follows strong criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which accused the WHO of being “China-centric”, and U.S. formal notification on Tuesday that it was withdrawing from the U.N. agency in a year’s time.



Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel and chose its members, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual meeting with representatives of WHO’s 194 member states, which was webcast.



“This is not a standard report that ticks a box and is then put on a shelf to gather dust. This is something we take seriously,” Tedros said, adding that the panel would provide an interim report to an annual meeting of health ministers being reconvened in November.



Clark, addressing the meeting, said that the assignment “could only be described as exceptionally challenging”.



Tedros noted that in May, WHO’s member states adopted unanimously a resolution put forward by the European Union calling for an evaluation of the global response to the pandemic.



More than 12 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 548,429​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.

WHO sets up panel to review handling of COVID-19 pandemic

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It’s been almost three weeks since South Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trials began, we will be unpacking more on the progress of these trials as well as the latest emerging evidence brought to the attention of the World Health Organization regarding the airborne transmission of COVID-19. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand.

Professor Shabir Madhi gives update on SA’s first COVID-19 vaccine trials

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; Nations who fail to use all mechanisms available to combat the still-raging coronavirus will struggle to beat it, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.



“Some countries &#8230; have taken a fragmented approach. These countries face a long, hard road ahead,” Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva.



More than 10.5 million people have been infected globally and more than half a million have died since the COVID-19 disease first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.



WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told the same briefing that the U.N. body planned to send two experts from its headquarters to join its country team in China to establish the scope for a mission looking into the origins of the coronavirus.

WHO warns some nations still face ‘long, hard’ battle with COVID-19

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Energy has a critical role for the delivery of health services. However, it is not adequately recognised as evidenced by the fact that only 28 per cent of health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to reliable electricity.

WHO: This is how electricity shortage impacts healthcare delivery in Africa

GENEVA/ZURICH (Reuters) &#8211; Coronavirus cases are soaring in several major countries at the same time, with “worrying increases” in Latin America, especially Brazil, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.



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FILE PHOTO: Nurse Jaqueline Borges Dias prepares medications for a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Emilio Ribas Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 17, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo



The world recorded more than 183,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the most in a single day since the outbreak started in December, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.



“Certainly the numbers are increasing because the epidemic is developing in a number of populous countries at the same time and across the whole world,” WHO’s top emergencies expert, Mike Ryan, told an online briefing.



“Some of that increase may be attributed to increased testing &#8230; And certainly countries like India are testing more. But we do not believe that this is a testing phenomenon.”



Global cases surpassed 9 million on Monday, with the United States, China and other hard-hit countries also reporting new outbreaks, according to a Reuters tally.



Ryan said there had been a jump in cases in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia and Guatemala, as well as Brazil, which had passed the 1 million mark &#8211; second only to the United States &#8211; and reported a record 54,000 cases in the previous 24 hours.



He said some of the jump in Brazil might reflect changes in the reporting system, but added:



“There still are relatively low tests per population, and the positivity rates for testing are still quite high overall. From that perspective, we would say that this trend is not reflective of exhaustive testing, but probably under-estimating the actual number of cases.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">1,000 DEATHS A DAY</h3>



Latin America’s largest country has frequently recorded more than 1,000 deaths a day over the last month.



President Jair Bolsonaro, sometimes called the “Tropical Trump”, has been widely criticised for his handling of the crisis. The country still has no permanent health minister after losing two since April, following clashes with the president.



Bolsonaro has shunned social distancing, calling it a job-killing measure more dangerous than the virus itself. He has also promoted two anti-malarial drugs &#8211; chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine &#8211; as remedies, despite a lack of evidence that they work.



Ryan said he thought there had been “great upticks” in cases in a number of U.S. states.



“I’m not 100 percent sure about the age profile, but I’ve seen the reports that some of this is amongst younger people. That may reflect the fact that younger people are more mobile and they are getting out and taking advantage of the reductions in restrictions of movement &#8230;



“What is clear is that the increase is not entirely explained through just increased testing.”



The WHO also said it was worried about Germany, where the reproduction rate of the virus hit 2.88 on Sunday, well above the maximum level of one transmission per person needed to contain the disease over the longer term.



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FILE PHOTO: Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo



Tedros said a lack of global leadership and unity in fighting the virus was a bigger threat than the outbreak itself, and that politicisation had made the pandemic worse.



The WHO has been criticised by some member states, especially the United States, which says it was too weak, too slow and too “China-centric” in tackling the disease at the outset.

Coronavirus cases soar in big countries, especially Brazil, WHO says – Reuters

By Thandi Tobias



In its fight against the spread of COVID-19, our continent faces a massive challenge that requires unprecedented levels of unity and coordinated action. To prevail, we have to grasp without hesitation what the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as a ‘window of opportunity’ while it remains open for us to do so.



While our continent is home to many of the world’s fastest developing nations, it is also home to some of the most vulnerable. It is a known fact that the high prevalence of malnutrition, anaemia, malaria, HIV/AIDs, and tuberculosis among our people, puts our continent in an unfortunate position; one in which high death rates happen easily. That is why the country’s leadership had to act swiftly and decisively.



As Africans, it is essential that we focus on coordinated efforts in our shared battle against COVID-19.&nbsp; Africa spans both hemispheres and consists of 55 member states. Our combined efforts and determination can and will see us through this challenging period. The second and follow-up virtual meeting of the ‘AU Bureau of Heads of State and Government’, held in April 2020, ended with solid plans for a more unified African response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to presentations by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Bureau was also addressed by French President Emmanuel Macron.



All the heads of state in attendance expressed a shared apprehension over the unknown impact this virus stands to have on the health of citizens of Africa, as well as the unforeseeable economic impact it will have. The Heads of States and Governments discussed three broad themes and agreed to proceed to pursue several key solutions:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stronger inter-continental links for greater African solidarity</h2>



There was unanimous agreement on the urgent need to establish better humanitarian and trade corridors among countries; something they agreed would require cohesive efforts from all participants.&nbsp; All decisions would be in the best interest of the continent and its people.&nbsp; This will also enable Africa to speak with one voice on Africa’s priorities. African leaders also agreed on the need for an immediate lifting of all economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and Sudan, as no African state would be left alone to fight against the spread of COVID-19. It was resolved that without the burden of sanctions, Zimbabwe and Sudan would be better positioned to save lives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; An aggressive medical response</h2>



Africa requires the production of medical supplies and equipment. The heads of states and governments called for international cooperation, support towards up-scaling local production of needed Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs), medical supplies such as masks, gowns, ventilators, and other support devices, all of which are greatly needed in the continent.



Furthermore, the AU commended rapid action initiatives such as the ones coordinated by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Jack Ma Foundation. Working with the World Food Programme and Africa CDC, they mobilised and distributed over one million diagnostic tests, six million masks, and 600,000 PPE items to all African Union member states in less than a week.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Fundraising efforts</h2>



The AU is taking a multi-stakeholder approach towards raising needed financial and other forms of international support to strengthen the fight to flatten COVID-19 growth in Africa. The gathered Heads of States and Governments also noted the progress made in operationalising the African Union’s COVID-19 Response Fund, which was established on in March 2020. Members pledged the sum of US$12.5 million and an additional US$4.5million to the Africa CDC.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Africa’s Call</h2>



To win the battle against COVID-19, protect its citizens and, by extension, citizens of the world, the AU calls for the support pledged by the G20, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be delivered without further delay. It also calls for these institutions to review their disbursement policies to unlock higher levels of flexibility, speed, and Africa’s access to the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). In addition, the AU also supports the call for a comprehensive stimulus package for Africa and the immediate suspension of interest payments on Africa’s external public and private debt. Such measures would benefit all Africans, as greater fiscal space would be created to resource the battle against COVID-19.



In conclusion, allow me to remind you all, of our South African concept of Ubuntu – I am because you are – which also rings true in the hearts of all Africans and, I hope, inspires people around the world. It is in the spirit of this shared humanity that Africa’s call is made for the global support of our resilient, yet fragile continent.



*Thandi Tobias is the Chairperson of Brand South Africa; the official marketing agency of South Africa with a mandate to build the country&#8217;s brand reputation and to improve its global competitiveness.

International travel for South Africans is now allowed, this is how it will work

Op-Ed: Africa’s people-led approach to combat COVID-19 shows signs of progress and leadership

Matshidiso Moeti, the regional head for Africa for the World Health Organisation , has stood firm in the face of backlash from the continent over her advice to hold back on using herbal medicine from Madagascar against COVID-19.



Social media was alive with criticism in the days following Moeti’s cautious reaction to this a tonic produced from a plant called Artemesia blended with a collection of herbs grown on the island of Madagascar. Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina has presented it to heads of state at the African Union as a herbal prevention of treatment of COVID-19.



“Africa should believe in herself instead of waiting for approval from a foreign organization to provide a cure for COVID-19,”says one tweet this week despite the fact that South Africa has volunteered to test the elixir.



“We survived diseases with our own traditional remedies for centuries without WHO’s approval. We are Africans, the bush is our pharmacy,” say other tweets, “Rather be killed by an African drug than a western vaccine.&#8221;



In her response Moeti was diplomatic, yet firm in her response in WHO’s weekly briefing to Africa’s media. She pointed out that WHO had worked for many years with governments to help them integrate African medicine into their health systems and also supported trials of herbal cures.



“Any medicine that is to be used we advise people to take it through trials . We are in talks with Madagascar to see what we can do,” says Moeti.



“We are not at all discouraging the use of the product, but would like to advise&nbsp; that is tested so when we celebrate the use of this product in Africa is we would like to do so with some evidence from tests behind it.” &nbsp;&nbsp;



For centuries – long before pharmaceuticals factories were built – African herbs were a natural and trusted way of healing and warding off ailments. The liquid is being made by the Madagascar Institute of Applied Research and distributed door-to-door by soldiers in the capital Antananarivo. The WHO also painted a bleak picture of COVID-19 in Africa. It said there were 72,000 confirmed 2500 died in 47 countries in Africa. On top of this, there were 200 million Africans going hungry, according to the World Food Programme, with many more by the day as children missed their only meal of the day as school stayed shut.

COVID-19: WHO Africa head Moeti stands firm over Madagascar medicine.

By Chris Bishop.



It was raised and tended, by hand, in the shady herbal gardens on an island amid the warm sea breezes of the east coast of Africa. It is intended to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, but the World Health Organisation says: don’t touch it &#8211; yet.



It is a balm produced from a plant called Artemesia blended with a collection of herbs grown on the island of Madagascar.



Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina has presented it to heads of state at the African Union as a herbal prevention of treatment of COVID-19. For centuries – long before pharmaceuticals factories were built – African herbs were a natural and trusted way of healing and warding off ailments. The liquid is being made by the Madagascar Institute of Applied Research and distributed door-to-door by soldiers in the capital Antananarivo. &nbsp;



Yet, in its online briefing to journalists, WHO’s regional director Matshidiso Moeti warned Africans to steer clear of the liquid from Madagascar.



“We are advising the government of Madgascar to take this through a clinical trial…So, we would caution and advise against countries adopting a product that has not been tested for its efficacy. Everything should be used only after clinical trials,” says Moeti when questioned about the elixir from Madagascar.



“We are concerned that the touting of this product as a preventative measure might stop people doing the right things to protect themselves.”



South Africa’s health minister Zweli Mkhize tweeted: “We received a call from the government of Madagascar, who asked for help with scientific research. Our scientists would be able to assist with this research. We will only get involved in a scientific analysis of the herb. We are not at that point yet.”



Moeti, a South African born doctor raised in Botswana, painted a grim picture of the fight against COVID-19 that has seen 2000 people die. To make matters worse, she said, 1000 health workers had fallen foul of the disease leaving a shortage of workers in treating all diseases. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I have a lot of faith in the resilience of African people. We will not see a continent flattened and in despair. It will be difficult but I am sure we will come through this together and stronger,”says Moeti.

MADAGASCAR-HEALTH-VIRUS

The anti-COVID-19 herbal balm from the sea breezes of  Madagascar – why the World Health Organisation says don’t touch it for now.

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The race for a Covid-19 vaccine has begun as the U.K and U.S have already started working on the first batches of vaccine trials. But the rest of the world is not far behind in vaccine research either as earlier this week South Africa’s health minister Zweli Mkhize pronounced that the country’s participation in the Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial created by the World Health Organisation. Mkhize stated that participation in the trials benefit South Africa from being at the forefront of accessing approved vaccines and adding our expertise to the global body of knowledge around Covid-19. Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand joins CNBC Africa for more.

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