The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is banking on three new strategies for the next stage of its fight against COVID-19 — increasing engagement with the youth on vaccine acceptance, promoting self-testing, and integrating the African diaspora into the continent’s response.
Why aren’t all countries self-testing for COVID-19?
Self-testing may be the norm in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. But in the Philippines, manufacturers have only recently filed for the registration of self-administered test kits, and in Somalia, rapid tests can only be administered by trained professionals.
Engaging the youth. Only 11% of the continent’s population is fully vaccinated. To reach the global goal of vaccinating 70% of populations this year — the speed of vaccinations across the continent needs to increase by sixfold, according to the World Health Organization.
“In order to increase our vaccination efforts, we will be launching a campaign with the youths,” Dr. John Nkengasong, director of Africa CDC, said during a press conference Thursday. The median age of the population is about 19 years old, he said, and at least 70% of the population is less than 30 years old.
“We really have to engage the youth to play an active role in scaling up vaccination in terms of mobilizing their peers,” he said.
Attracting the diaspora. Africa CDC will also aim to attract African health professionals living abroad to come to the continent to participate in the pandemic response, under the Kofi Annan Scholar program, he said.
“We are looking for opportunities to create an enabling environment so that they can come spend three months to six months in a rotation program,” he said. "You get an African who is somewhere out of the continent and wishes to contribute.” Africa CDC will pay for their ticket, living expenses, and embed them in a country’s national public health institute.
Increasing self-tests. Africa CDC will also encourage countries to scale up the use of COVID-19 self-tests. The agency will also procure these tests, Nkengasong said. This is aimed at “democratizing rapid testing,” he said.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
