Publications

Background: The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic. As of March 12, 2020, over 134,000 cases had been confirmed in more than 120 countries and territories, with major outbreaks in mainland China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran.  Around 5,000 people, with about 3,200 from China, have died from the disease. More than 69,000 have recovered. While there are many studies for prevention and treatment, there is currently no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment.

Response from the Global North leaders: Countries in the Global North and Global South such as USA, UK, Italy, France, China and South Korea, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda have responded to the coronavirus in many ways: curfews, international travel restrictions, quarantines for example closing schools, restrictions on public gatherings like postponing public events that attract bigger gatherings such as football marches, conferences, enforcing safety measures of sanitization, wearing masks and gazetting places for testing (intensified screening methods at airports, train stations etc.)

Problem statement: Both the virus and its impact on health systems, formal and informal economies, supplies of essential goods, and the steps taken to control it such as physical isolation, restricted movement, quarantine, etc. will have immediate impacts on the lives of all people, including the elderly, people living with HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, people who use drugs and other marginalized groups. The majority of the world’s HIV positive population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, and the majority of those people are women. A gendered and HIV-aware response is essential, so that emergency measures against one virus do not prompt an emergency with another.

Our specific context includes vulnerabilities such as poverty, limited health communication in vernacular language, slow work to spread clear, simple messages to contradict misconceptions such as African skin resists the virus, over congestion and over population in slums, ungazetted and porous borders, grossly overcrowded and under equipped health facilities (in terms of drugs and supplies and human resources). Implications are far reaching to some population segments for example people living with HIV and others with chronic illnesses. What are African leaders doing to make sure that drugs and supplies are available for people on drugs in the event that the pandemic ravages poor countries to minimize deaths? Additionally, if the country runs short of condoms and lubricants, the gains made in the HIV response will be eroded because this will fuel and multiply the new infections. What will happen to very low-income earners especially women in the informal sector who depend on small daily earnings, what is their future if they are quarantined without alternative options? In view of this development challenge and the possible gross consequences of inaction from African leaders towards this pandemic, ICWEA in partnership with APHA call for urgent action on the coronavirus.