COVID-19 Has Caused Multiple Crises in Africa
The epidemic influenced African countries negatively in many aspects. According to the latest Report on Food Security and Nutrition in Africa, jointly launched by the African Union Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, hunger on the African continent has worsened significantly since 2013, with the deterioration concentrated between 2019 and 2020 and further exacerbated in 2021. In South Africa, the most industrialized economy in the African continent, unemployment rate continues to rise in 2021 and reached 34.9% in terms of South Africa’s latest quarterly Labor force survey. It has been more than two years since the COVID-19 outbreak. The impact of the epidemic on Africa is not only in the health sector, but also in the economic and social sectors. Due to the spread of the epidemic, food shortages, poverty and unemployment have become more acute in an increasing number of regions in Africa. Local people lack necessary supplies, and the possibility of economic and social crisis is increasing. Moreover, due to the relatively loose monetary policies adopted by western countries in the US in the preliminary stage of the pandemic, the spillover effects are more pronounced in Africa, which is facing the biggest outflow of investment and foreign exchange in decades. Recently, the expectation of interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve has made Africa’s real economy worsen. If the epidemic continues to spread in Africa, economic and social problems in the region will not be effectively addressed, which may lead to continued instability in the region.
Africans Need to Accelerate Vaccination Against COVID-19
A recent report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation on COVID-19 in Africa stated that unless 70% of the African population is vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2022, there is little chance that Africa will defeat the Novel Coronavirus pandemic. However, only five out of more than 50 countries in Africa are on track to meet the WHO’s target that 40 percent of the population vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021, according to the report.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation and other African groups warned at the outset of the crisis that an unvaccinated Africa could be an ideal breeding ground for strains to mutate. The mutation and spread of Omicron show that COVID-19 remains a global threat and that vaccinating people around the world to achieve herd immunity is the only solution.
However, export bans and vaccine stockpiling have hampered vaccine supplies to Africa. The World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa has claimed that if rich countries continue to exclude COVID-19 vaccine implementation plans, then Africa will not meet vaccination targets and the wide gap in vaccine distribution between countries will not be narrowed quickly. In addition, both insufficient vaccine production and slow approval processes for vaccine acquisition have limited vaccine delivery in Africa.
Inadequate Medical Facilities Have Worsened Local Health Conditions
Limited medical facilities and inadequate medical staff are one of the main reasons why African governments have imposed strict lockdowns. Because of the imperfect health care system, Nucleic Acid Testing is likely to be self-funded. These testing in public hospitals is free of charge, and patients who test positive in private hospitals can be reimbursed by the state. If the test result is negative at a private hospital, the residents have to pay for the test. However, Each Nucleic Acid Testing costs as much as many locals spend in a month. According to WHO and OECD estimation, only approximately 10% of South Africans can afford private hospital care, and 90% of south Africans rely on public hospitals for their care.
In the past, Africa’s medical industry was mainly funded by government grants and international donations. The health systems in sub-Saharan Africa were designed to deal with serious problems and infectious diseases, and comprehensive health systems, products and services have yet to be established. For example, local governments spend a lot of resources to treat AIDS, but provide very few services for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many other chronic diseases. In fact, chronic diseases account for one in three adult deaths in the region, cancer rates tripled between 2008 and 2013, and diabetes in Africa is expected to double by 2030. Africa has 11% of the world’s population, but its sub-Saharan region accounts for less than 1% of global health spending, according to the World Bank statistics.
HIV Patients, Homeless People and Refugees Accelerate the Spread of COVID-19
South Africa has a large number of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis patients, compared with those in western countries who are most at risk from the elderly. Specifically, twenty percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 49 have AIDS, who are the largest groups at risk. Nearly 33% of HIV patients in South Africa are not receiving antiretroviral drugs, making them vulnerable to COVID-19 and at high risk of developing the disease once infected.
In addition, there are about 200,000 homeless people in South Africa, most of whom live in cities. The vagrants made their living begging on the streets and sleeping in the corners of the city. After the lockdown, South Africa’s roads were almost empty of pedestrians, leaving the homeless without food. In order to prevent them from becoming a mobile source of infection, the government has decided to centralize their feeding. In Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, the government has settled more than 2, 000 homeless people in a sports stadium. However, problems such as overcrowding and food shortages occurs continuously.
While many developed countries faced similar problems, they have more resources to arrange settlements, distribute food and maintain sanitation. In Canada, faced with the overpopulation of homeless shelters and high risk of transmission, the government rented a large number of hotels to accommodate homeless people. In some areas, free Nucleic Acid Testing was conducted for homeless people, since the authority intend to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19 among homeless people and bring crisis to their cities.
Africa Urgently Needs Global Attention and Assistance
According to WHO, 53 African countries have launched vaccination programs with 264 million doses (61 per cent of vaccines received), and about 1.6 billion additional doses would be required to vaccinate 70 per cent of Africans. Africa will not reach 40 per cent vaccination coverage until May 2022 and the critical 70 per cent vaccination coverage until August 2024. In addition, Nigeria was recently forced to destroy 1.06 million doses of expired vaccines. Vaccines supplied by western countries through the COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Program arrived in Nigeria with several weeks left to be used in time. Senegal, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries are all facing difficulties caused by vaccine expiration.
The ups and downs of the epidemic in Africa remind us of the gaps and weaknesses in the current global governance system, and the lack of attention paid by developed countries to global common development. African countries and other developing countries are relatively backward in development still on the verge of position, and the capacity of these countries to cope with risks such as natural disasters, social problems, external intervention and international economic fluctuations remains weak. Africa, as a supplier of global basic raw materials, provides important commodity resources for economic globalization. Turbulence in Africa will inevitably impact global supply chains and industrial chains and make it more difficult for the global economy to recover. Therefore, the international community should pay full attention to the global damage caused by the ongoing outbreak in Africa and give Africa sufficient attention and practical assistance in its fight against the epidemic.
By Xin Wang
