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Coronavirus knock-on effect hitting vital health services in Africa - WHO

Published 05/11/2020, 14:12
Updated 05/11/2020, 14:18

By Omar Mohammed
NAIROBI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic is
having a knock-on effect on other vital health services in
Africa as countries are forced to redirect already stretched
resources, a regional head of the World Health Organization
(WHO) said on Thursday.
The continent of more than a billion people has been spared
the worst consequences of COVID-19, with relatively lower death
rates and infections seen elsewhere.
Africa has recorded at least 1.8 million cases, with 43,700
deaths, according to the WHO.
"A preliminary analysis by WHO indicates COVID-19 is hitting
other health services really hard," Matshidiso Moeti, Africa
director for the WHO, said in an online press conference.
Lockdowns imposed by countries to halt the spread of the
virus in May, June and July contributed to a more than 50% drop
in services monitored by WHO.
From January to August, an extra 1.3 million children aged
under one missed their first doses of the measles vaccine,
compared with the same period last year, Moeti said.
In Nigeria, for example, more than 362,000 pregnant women
missed their ante-natal care between March and August.
In August, there were 310 maternal deaths in health
facilities, almost double the number recorded at the same time
in 2019, she added.
"So while COVID-19 is not overwhelming African health
facilities in the way ... first predicted ... it is really
stretching already resourced-limited health systems," Moeti
said.
Moeti said immunisation campaigns against measles and polio
had restarted but more needed to be done to protect the gains
made in previous years in improving access to health services
and outcomes on the continent.

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