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Coronavirus: "In Africa, international awareness is necessary"

2020-03-29T07:30:30.764Z


In a column at Parisien-today in France, Augustin Augier, director general of a humanitarian medical organization, believes that l


Augustin Augier, Director General of ALIMA (The Alliance for international medical action), a medical humanitarian organization present in 11 African countries.

“The Covid-19 epidemic reached the African continent later. We have no reason to believe that the epidemic curve in Africa will not be equivalent to that which has been observed in Asia and Europe. This should alert us because, unlike the rest of the world, the continent does not have the weapons necessary to face it alone.

The first difficulty is the extremely fragile health systems of the poorest African countries. With 20 times fewer hospital beds and 50 times fewer doctors per resident in West Africa than in Western Europe, these countries do not have the capacity to treat and save patients whose clinical condition will require hospitalization . Data collected so far reveals that 15% of cases are considered severe. In Africa they will not be able to be hospitalized and even less have respiratory assistance, essential to save lives and especially those of young patients. It should therefore not be thought that African demography will protect it against mortality in this epidemic ...

Another difficulty, containment measures, essential in the fight against this epidemic, are almost impossible to apply in the most fragile countries of Africa: how to ask people to stay at home for several weeks, in countries where the informal economy constitutes the majority of the inhabitants' income, where they earn the day what they eat at night? The question also arises for barrier actions: how to encourage people to wash their hands regularly in countries where access to water is a massive problem? The fight against the epidemic poses a real problem of survival and the pandemic cannot, as it stands, be slowed down by all the measures which have proven their effectiveness in Asia or in Europe.

Finally, sub-Saharan Africa is the site of many conflicts, particularly in the Sahel region, where non-state armed groups militarily oppose the states. What consequences can we expect in these areas where the weakening of states caused by the epidemic will certainly be considerable? During the Ebola epidemic in 2014, Sierra Leone and Liberia saw their existence threatened, the president of Liberia having herself raised the possibility of the disappearance of her country while he was at peace.

Also, the fight against Covid-19 in Africa will not be done without awareness on an international scale. The operational strategy deployed during the Ebola epidemic must certainly inspire us. Countries, particularly in Asia, which have managed to get through the wave of contamination, must also now do their part. We also ask them to mobilize for Africa, in the name of international solidarity, by making medical personnel and equipment available to African countries. Also keep in mind that we are not immune to the reintroduction of the virus, in second wave in Europe or elsewhere, from Africa.

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The G20 must also play a key leadership role in this mobilization, like the United Nations, and in particular the WHO, in coordinating the response. The NGOs will not be able to assume everything, all the more so since the measures to close the borders and prohibit thefts taken in turn by the countries, make it almost impossible for the movement of humanitarian personnel and the delivery of equipment, which are absolutely essential to the survival of certain remote areas.

Finally, African states must also get involved. Across Europe, in the United States, governments come to the aid of their inhabitants by providing them with economic aid: partial unemployment measures, deferral of rents, support for businesses, and even a monthly bonus of 1000 dollars granted in the United States. . The success of confinement in Africa will depend on the capacity of States to deploy, on a large scale, with the financial aid coming from international solidarity, the same financial support mechanisms for populations. No more no less. "

Source: leparis

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