HEALTH - The African Mirror

May

12

2022

How South Africa is integrating COVID into routine care for mothers and babies

COVID-19

COVID-19 has had a direct impact on maternal mortality. Pregnant women are not at an increased risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. But data show they are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease. This is especially the case in the last 12 weeks of pregnancy, and this is still the case two years into the pandemic. Authors JEANNETTE WESSELS, Researcher, Centre for Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care Strategies, University of Pretoria UTE FEUCHT, Associate Professor in Paediatrics, University of Pretoria In South Africa, this risk equated to an additional 16 COVID-19-related maternal deaths per 100,000 live births,…

May

11

2022

By The African Mirror

Making COVID vaccines in Africa: advances and sustainability issues

COVID-19

Author BENJAMIN KAGINA, University of Cape Town THE history of vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa dates back to 1881 when Egypt’s Vacsera company was established. Before the COVID pandemic was declared, there were eight African countries that, to our knowledge, had a record of vaccine manufacturing facilities (see the map). They were: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia (North Africa); Nigeria and Senegal (West Africa); Ethiopia (East Africa); and South Africa. Between them, they had 14 facilities. Few were involved from end to end (discovery, fill and finish, pack and distribute) production process. Instead, the focus was largely on the late…

May

08

2022

By The African Mirror

How COVID controls hit farmers in 7 low-income countries, most in Africa

COVID-19

SINCE its emergence more than two years ago, COVID-19 has reached nearly every corner of the globe. It has infected hundreds of millions of people, and overwhelmed health systems worldwide. But its impact goes beyond its direct health consequences. Measures to contain its spread – such as travel restrictions and lockdowns – have also had severe consequences for economies and food systems worldwide. Despite the global impact, the consequences of pandemic-related restrictions vary widely among individuals. In the West, massive stimulus spending has helped ease the economic burden of the lockdowns. In low and middle-income countries, steep drops in employment…

May

06

2022

By The African Mirror

COVID led to 15 million deaths globally, not the 5 million reported – WHO

COVID-19

JENNIFER RIGBY ALMOST three times as many people have died as a result of COVID-19 as official data show, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, the most comprehensive look at the true global toll of the pandemic so far. There were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the U.N. body said on Thursday. The official count of deaths directly attributable to COVID-19 and reported to WHO in that period, from January 2020 to the end of December 2021, is slightly more than 5.4 million. The WHO's excess mortality figures reflect people…

May

04

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa is proposing plans to manage diseases like COVID. Why they’re flawed

COVID-19

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African government published “special regulations” to contain the spread of the disease. These actions were taken under special powers granted by the Disaster Management Act. In April 2022, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an end to the crisis management mode the country had been in for two years. Now processes are underway to embed some of the special regulations into the country’s general health regulations related to notifiable medical conditions. Authors IGNATIUS MICHAEL VILJOEN, PhD Candidate Cell and Gene Therapy Regulation. Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Pretoria…

May

03

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Aspen COVID-19 vaccine plant risks closure after no orders, executive says

COVID-19

TIM COCKS AFRICA'S first COVID-19 vaccination plant, touted last year as a trailblazer for an under-vaccinated continent frustrated by sluggish Western handouts, risks shutting down after receiving not a single order, a company executive said. South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare negotiated a licensing deal in November to package and sell Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine and distribute it across Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) called the deal a "transformative moment" in the drive towards levelling stark inequalities in access to COVID vaccines. With only a sixth of adults in Africa fully vaccinated, according to the latest WHO figures from the end of…

Apr

30

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa says it may be entering fifth COVID wave

COVID-19

ALEXANDER WINNING and WENDELL ROELF SOUTH AFRICA may be entering a fifth COVID wave earlier than expected after a sustained rise in infections over the past 14 days that seems to be driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants, health officials and scientists said on Friday. The country that has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent only exited a fourth wave around January and had predicted a fifth wave could start in May or June, early in the southern hemisphere winter. Health Minister Joe Phaahla told a briefing that although hospitalisations were picking up…

Apr

30

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa seeing uptick of Covd-19 cases – WHO

COVID-19

AFRICA is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 infections, largely driven by a doubling in cases reported in South Africa, the World Health Organization said, urging people across the continent to continue to get vaccinated. Africa had been experiencing a lull in COVID cases, with the WHO earlier this month pointing to the longest-running decline in weekly infections on the continent since the start of the pandemic. But last week cases started to pick up in South Africa -- the country that has recorded the most infections and deaths in Africa to date -- and health authorities there are monitoring for…

Apr

29

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s COVID relief measures mostly excluded refugees: a neglect of duty

COVID-19

THE early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa saw the government impose a lockdown in a bid to save lives. It introduced several interventions to cushion the impact of the crisis caused by the shutdown of economic activities on citizens. Among the measures were food aid as well as unemployment and debt relief. Refugees and asylum seekers expected similar protection. Their expectations flowed from the fact that the South African government has a responsibility to protect them according to the Refugees Act 130 of 1998. Author CALLIXTE KAVURO, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Public Law, Stellenbosch University The act…

Apr

22

2022

By The African Mirror

As COVID hit Kenya and South Africa, race and class fears were amplified on Twitter

COVID-19

IT'S common in both Kenya and South Africa for there to be everyday conversations about inequalities in power relations and between “races”, classes and ethnic groups. Kenya, in East Africa, and South Africa, in southern Africa, share a history of British colonial divisions. In both countries, social movements and protests have sought to address these social injustices – like #FeesMustFall, #MenAreTrash, #SabaSabaMarchForOurLives, #OccupyParliamentKE. Authors JOB MWAURA, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Cape TownUFUOMA AKPOJIVI, Associate Professor in Media Studies, University of the Witwatersrand Socio-economic and political divides were further exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the responses of the…