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COVID-19 measures in Africa: latest report is out

Posted 4 Aug 15:20 UTC

The Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC Coalition), a joint effort between Resolve to Save Lives, IPSOS, Africa CDC, World Health Organization, UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, Novetta Mission Analytics and the World Economic Forum, has released its latest bi-weekly report about the implementation of Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) in Africa, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image: Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19

These reports serve as a tool to help governments and decision-makers understand the full picture of current public health and safety measures, as well as their societal and economic impacts.

Some interesting findings in this brief include information on how COVID-19 has affected healthcare workers across Africa, and how public mistrust of governments and international agencies is affecting adherence to public health and social measures, and fuelling vaccine hesitancy. The report also provides a regional breakdown of disease dynamics and interventions across the continent.

Other key takeaways include:

Reported COVID-19 cases increased by 8.5% between 14 and 27 July compared to the previous two weeks, driven by new cases in southern and eastern Africa.
Across all regions, reports of non-adherence to public health and social measures (PHSM) are growing, driven by government mistrust, increases in unemployment and rampant misinformation narratives.
More than 11,000 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19, and demands from healthcare workers for fair compensation and better personal protective equipment (PPE) are on the rise. There have been 193 healthcare worker protests related to COVID-19.
COVID-19 could push between 26-39 million people in sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty by 2021, according to a World Bank report.

You can see the full report here. Check back in two weeks for the next release.

What we learned about COVID-19 and ageing: new video series

Posted 4 Aug 15:13 UTC

"If you are 16 today, you are going to be an older person in the near future. If you are 30 today, in 2050 you will be 60. No person young or older is expendable."
—Alexandre Kalache, President ILC International Longevity Centre, Brazil; GFC on Longevity

Over the last month, the World Economic Forum's Platform on Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare, in collaboration with AARP and the US National Academy of Medicine, convened five conversations about COVID-19 and Ageing Societies, with over 480 participants from North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific, South East Asia, South America, Caribbean and China.

This year, for the first time in history, there are more people on the planet over the age of 65 than under the age of 5, and the number of people who are 60 years old and above will double to more than 2 billion by 2050. With that context in mind, the dialogue series shared experiences and expertise about about how the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on older adults, It also explored many promising examples of what is needed to promote healthy ageing and longevity, even in the context of a pandemic.

Read about what we learned from each of the five dialogues, and watch our video highlights below.

Lessons from Part 1: Long-term care facilities

Lessons from Part 2: Home and community based care

Lessons from Part 3: Ageism in the time of coronavirus

Lessons from Part 4: Impact on older adults in LMICs

Lessons from Part 5: Converging Pandemics: Loneliness and Isolation