When the COVID-19 razed through China and other developed countries, there were concerns about Africa’s readiness and capacity in the face of the looming pandemic. However, Africa currently stands behind many developed countries in the number of casualties from the pandemic. While the continent is experiencing the third wave of the pandemic, Africa is not likely to witness scenes of overwhelmed health centres seen in some parts of the world. COVID-19 did not create most of the challenges Africa has faced through the pandemic, it has, however, laid bare longstanding and evolving crises on the continent.
For example, health systems in Africa were already fragile before the pandemic. Preexisting frameworks, such as the Abuja Declaration and the Africa Health Strategy 2016-2030, have not been sufficient to finance health. Since 2001, when the A.U. set the target of spending 15% of the government budget on health in any given year, only a few countries had met it….
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