Coronavirus leaves Africa facing double jeopardy by halting vaccination programmes and fight against malaria
- Continent is threatened by a range of other deadly illnesses and Covid-19 threatens efforts to contain diseases such as polio, measles and Ebola
- World Health Organisations warn that even short delays to vaccination campaigns risks a resurgence of preventable diseases
The battle against Covid-19 risks undermining other public health campaigns in Africa as attention and resources are diverted away from other projects such as immunisation and anti-malaria campaigns.
Before the coronavirus that causes the disease arrived in Africa, the continent was battling to contain measles, polio, malaria, cholera, tuberculosis and Ebola, which were killing thousands of people annually.
The World Health Organisation, some developed nations such as the United States and charities, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have dedicated millions of dollars to these immunisation programmes, but these have now been halted while the battle against Covid-19 takes centre stage.
However, the WHO has warned that these shutdowns risk triggering a resurgence of preventable diseases. It said that when immunisation services are disrupted, even for brief periods during emergencies, there is an increased risk of an outbreak of diseases such as measles and polio.
For example, a measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year killed more than 6,000 in a country that was already battling Ebola.
The Ebola outbreak, centred on the city of Beni in North Kivu province, has killed 2,242 people and infected 3,404.