A surge team of 40 experts from WHO were recently deployed in South Africa to bolster the country’s response to COVID-19.
South Africa is among the five countries in the world hardest hit by COVID-19. Altogether more than 40 public health experts are expected to provide surge support, working with national and provincial counterparts on key areas of the response. At the request of the South African government, WHO deployed the experts who will be embedded with the national response teams, working closely with local public health officials to address the country’s urgent COVID-19 challenges.
WHO is increasing support to 11 African countries which have requested assistance as they experience a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The organization is mobilizing more technical experts on the ground as well as scaling up local training. With community transmission occurring in more than half of Africa’s countries, WHO is strengthening community engagement and health education as well as providing direct material support to boost testing capacity.
However, lack of testing is leading to under-reporting of COVID-19 cases and is preventing the medical community from understanding the full picture of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.
To help meet demand for essential medical equipment across Africa, WHO and other United Nations agencies have formed a global procurement consortium which leverages their networks, expertise and product knowledge to support countries that have limited access to markets. The WHO-led consortium has secured critical volumes of testing kits and other key diagnostic supplies from major manufacturers.
So far, the consortium has shipped 1.8 million testing kits to 47 countries in Africa over the past month. Another 1.1 million testing kits are expected to be dispatched in the coming weeks.