AstraZeneca-SKBio in South Korea and Serum Institute of India
This statement aims to provide guidance and recommendation to African Union Member States in responding to the following questions:
What should countries do when announcing identification of a herbal remedy or medicine?
What are the implications for the rest of the continent?
The "Global mapping report on multisectoral actions to strengthen the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions" by the WHO provides insights into how different countries are implementing multisectoral approaches to address NCDs and mental health issues. ...It highlights the importance of collaboration across sectors—such as health, education, finance, and urban planning—to tackle risk factors like tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful alcohol use. The report categorizes actions into four pillars: governance, leadership, operational practices, and resources. It showcases examples from various countries and calls for improved multisectoral efforts to reduce the global burden of NCDs and enhance mental health outcomes.
more
24 September 2021. The vaccine has been authorized by the Chinese National Regulatory Authority (NRA) – the National Medicinal Product Administration (NMPA) – as well as other regulatory authorities. Because WHO has granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine (Vero Cell ...[Inactivated]) – CoronaVac, the Africa Union and Africa CDC’s Regulatory Taskforce has endorsed the Emergency Use Authorisation for the vaccine (see scenario #1). As such, African Union Member States are recommended to waive any review processes and rely directly on the WHO EUL via the AVAREF managed pathway described in Scenario #1
more
In case of resistance to rifampicin, fluoroquinolones become the preferred category of second-line drugs. Unfortunately, quinolone-resistant strains of Mycobacterium leprae have also been reported in several countries, probably due to the extensive use of quinolones for treating several types of inf...ections. Clofazimine resistance is still rare but this antimicrobial cannot be given alone
more
19 April 2020
To contain the spread of COVID-19 and to keep infections at a manageable level, many countries have instituted lockdowns and social distancing. In India, a nationwide 21-day lockdown was announced with effect from 25 March 2020. This lockdown is expected to avert a sudden and large in...crease in the number of infections in the short term. Additionally, interventions such as social distancing and isolation of infected individuals over several months could reduce peak infections. Interventions such as frequent handwashing, reduced mass gatherings, contact tracing, and quarantines could slow transmission and reduce overall infections.
more
J HEALTH POPUL NUTR 2010 Aug;28(4):327-332
ISSN 1606-0997
La stratégie continentale commune africaine pour COVID-19 est sous-tendue par la nécessité de limiter la transmission, de prévenir les décès et de réduire les dommages associés. La participation des nations africaines aux essais cliniques est une étape essentielle pour garantir la productio...n de données suffisantes sur la sécurité et l'efficacité des candidats vaccins les plus prometteurs parmi les populations de la région.
Bien que l'activité actuelle des essais cliniques COVID-19 sur le continent soit limitée, l'Afrique possède une expérience et des capacités considérables pour mener des essais cliniques de vaccins préventifs contre toute une série de maladies, et de nombreuses organisations du continent travaillent sans relâche pour aider à préparer des essais supplémentaires sur des vaccins COVID-19 potentiels.
Disponible en anglais, français et portugais
more
Mission report April 2016
SOP- Quality Assurance of Malaria Diagnostic Tests
16 Dec. 2020
This document provides guidance to Ministries of Health (MOHs), laboratory personnel and implementing partners in African Union Member States on the application of rapid antigen tests to COVID-19 testing. The guidance serves as reference for policymakers, laboratory leads, implementing... partners, and experts on use case scenarios and associated testing algorithms for COVID-19 antigen tests. It recommends the use of antigen tests to increase access to testing and enable timely results for persons with or without symptoms in specific settings. The document will be reviewed and updated as more evidence becomes available regarding the use of rapid antigen tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from global studies and evaluation efforts.
more
Many African countries were amongst the most rapid to respond to the emerging threat of COVID-19, implementing large-scale interventions at very early stages of their epidemic. As demonstrated in this document using very simple models, this rapid mobilization and timeliness of implementing control m...easures is likely to be an important determinant of their success. Indeed, as these measures were relaxed, subsequent waves of disease have been observed in many countries including South Africa, Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where such waves have severely impacted the health system by straining the supply of oxygen and ICU beds and inflicting a heavy toll on healthcare workers, often necessitating the re-imposition of control measures.
more
ASLM in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Amref and Last Mile Health present the Quality Assurance Framework for SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Testing for Diagnosis of COVID-19. This framework aims to pr...ovide general technical guidance to African Union Members States on the rollout, establishment, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Ag RDT interventions so as to effectively and efficiently detect, control and minimise errors in the performance of COVID-19 laboratory testing processes. It describes the core components for quality assurance, resources mobilisation and advocacy for scale up, monitoring, evaluation, learning and accountability for SARS-CoV-2 implementation.
more
Since the emergence of COVID 19 in December 2019, various public health responses measures have been implemented to control the pandemic. Among measures taken by the Africa CDC was the launch of PACT initiative to accelerate COVID 19 testing. Key to the initiative is the engagement of Community Heal...th Workers (CHWs) in risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), surveillance activities for early case identification, contacts tracing and in facilitating referrals for testing and continuum of care.
As of 31 May 2021, Through PACT support, over 17154 CHWs have been trained and locally deployed in 24 AU Member states. The PACT supported CHWs visited more than 2,568,654 households for community engagement activities, active case search and contact tracing, identified 1,618,601 Contacts, 710,167 COVID 19 suspect cases based on the standard case definition and facilitated referrals for 553053 (78%) suspect cases for testing. These efforts were crucial for early identification and isolation of cases in limiting further transmission.
more