The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the use of pooled sample testing strategy in coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
testing laboratories of the African Union Member States for scaling up SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing capacity with the available resources. The current document descr...ibes the effect of factors such as the prevalence of COVID-19 in the population to be tested, the homogeneity of pools, and the sensitivity of the molecular test in optimal pool size determination. It also highlights the importance of monitoring the prevalence of COVID-19 in a population to be tested and proper validation of the test, to limit the potential for false-negative results. Validation studies to determine the optimal pool size by testing laboratories are recommended as the optimum approach. A safe, simple ‘two-stage pooling’ option has been indicated in this guidance to be used by laboratories until such validation can be achieved.
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This guidance will assist staff, students and caregivers in schools (including day care centres, pre-school, primary and secondary schools), higher educational institutions (including universities, research institutes) and other educational institutions with how to address coronavirus disease 2019 (...COVID-19) during different outbreak phases as defined in the Africa CDC Stepwise Response.
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This document simplifies the WHO guidance on severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) treatment centres and is meant to be accessible to healthcare workers, policymakers and others who want
a quick overview of the key requirements for a COVID-19 isolation centre either within an existing facility ...or as a standalone centre.
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This guidance provides considerations and a series of options that can be used to inform country strategies in managing any shortages of personal protective equipment.Re-use and reprocessing of single-use PPE must be a last resort temporary measure to be adopted until stocks are replenished. The WH...O and other agencies are currently conducting research about this and further guidance will likely become available soon.
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March 2020
This document provides a high-level mapping of outbreak stages with guidance on how to time the minimum uptake of different interventions that have been recommended by Africa CDC, driven by evidence and science.
Currently, Mauritius and Seychelles have 85 and 82 percent vaccination rates, respectively, surpassing the 70 percent target set by the WHO in 2021. Countries that have attained vaccination rates of between 50 and 70 percent include Liberia
at 67 percent, Rwanda at 66 percent, Morocco at 62 percent..., and Tunisia at 53 percent. Meanwhile, about 25.3 percent of the continent's population is fully vaccinated.
Africa has registered over 12 million COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The following countries have recorded the highest number of cases: Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Morocco, South Africa, and Tunisia
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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.
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Key findings from a February 2021 survey from the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC)
The speed of developing diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been quite remarkable. Diagnostics have focused on nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) to identify infected individuals in acute-phase disease for timely implementation of mitiga...tion strategies and case management. More and more immunodiagnostics, mostly rapid diagnostic tests, are being made available as an alternative to NAATs. This type of test can be used out-of-laboratory conditions at large scale.
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In 2007, WHO warned that infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging at a rate that has not been seen before. The potential for infectious diseases to spread rapidly results in high morbidity and mortality, causing a potential global public health treat of major concern.
Several factors are ...contributing to the (re)emergence of infectious diseases such as population growth, living in close contact with animals, frequent travelling, poverty, destructive ecological changes due to economic development and land use and climate change result in global warming.
Especially Africa is at a threat for (re)emerging infectious diseases due to the huge population growth (expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050) with rapid urbanisation. Additionally, people across and beyond the continent are excessively mobile which is combined with a weak health system. Moreover, the risk of (re)emerging infectious disease is further heightened by three newly adopted continental initiatives: African Continental Free Trade Area, Free Movement of Persons and African Passport and Single African Air Transport Market.
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تطوير لقاح مرض فيروس كورونا ] واستراتيجية المستجد [COVID-19
Available in English, French and Arabic