Covid-19 has further exposed the cracks that exist in the healthcare sectors in countries like Africa. According to the World Bank, Africa requires around $100 billion to successfully tackle Covid-19 impact across all verticals. The World Bank said, “Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, the Bank Group has committed over $157 billion to fight the impacts of the pandemic. Provided from April 2020 to June 2021, it includes over $50 billion of IDA resources on grant and highly concessional terms. Our support is tailored to the health, economic, and social shocks that countries are facing.”

The impact of Covid-19 is not just limited to healthcare. African nations such as Kenya and Nigeria have been also impacted. The lockdowns and stay-home orders issued to curb the spread of the virus has had implications on food security. The Covid-19 pandemic has also taken a toll on the mental health of many Africans. Many cases of healthcare workers, Covid-19 patients, youth, or even the elderly suffering anxiety and depression have been recorded. It has become of utmost importance to integrate mental health education and counselling with psychosocial support during these testing times.

The World Health Organisation said, “This unprecedented public health emergency has demonstrated that health facilities, medical transport, patients as well as health care workers and their families can – and do – become targets everywhere. This alarming trend reinforces the need for improved measures to protect health care from acts of violence. During the Covid-19 pandemic more than ever, protecting the health and lives of health care providers on the frontline is critical to enabling a better global response.”

Vaccination drives in Africa were slow to start with. Most of the African nations rely on the COVAX programme, whereas some have managed to get vaccines as donations or through bilateral trades. Africa’s aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of its population by the end of this year, however, most of the nations will fail to hit the target, unless the vaccination drives pick up rapidly in the remaining days of this year.

Covid-19 in Africa
Around 8.5 million cases of Covid-19 were reported in African countries till since the beginning of the outbreak, as per official data. The World Health Organisation found that less than 15 percent of the Covid-19 cases in Africa were reported correctly. It is estimated that nearly 60 million people contracted the virus in Africa. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said, “With limited testing, we’re still flying blind in far too many communities in Africa. Most tests are carried out on people with symptoms, but much of the transmission is driven by asymptomatic people, so what we see could just be the tip of the iceberg.” She said that test numbers have been rising in Africa, but this community-based initiative is a radically new approach that should help significantly raise detection rates. “More testing means rapid isolation, less transmission and more lives saved through targeted action,” she added.

Besides infecting people, the Covid-19 pandemic is also disrupting health services in Africa. The pandemic has undermined the progress made when it comes to fighting deadly diseases that have plagued Africa for years. The fight against diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis (TB), and malaria, which continue to be the leading causes of death in the region have taken a back seat.

A study revealed that the mortality rate has increased too. It was reported that there has been an increase of up to 10 percent, 20 percent, and 36 percent due to HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria respectively during the pandemic. The pandemic has also disrupted the fight against HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. During the pandemic, adding to the HIV death burden. An analysis on HIV treatment forecasted that a disruption in treatment as a result of the pandemic could lead to an additional 500,000 HIV deaths in Africa.

In 2020, access to healthcare services declined significantly not only in Africa but throughout the world as a result of the pandemic. This is because people were afraid of contracting Covid-19 from their visits to hospitals. Other factors such as patients’ inability to reach healthcare facilities due to lockdown measures, disruptions in public transportation, and stay-at-home orders also played a part.

Africa’s healthcare system over the years has faced multiple challenges be it lack of funds, poor infrastructure, inadequate healthcare workforce, or its high burden of disease. The pandemic has only made matters worse by adding to the existing double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Other factors contributing to this are the higher poverty rate in African countries and poor health literacy.

Like many other regions across the globe, Africa too saw an aggressive second wave. Far more cases were registered by the end of 2020 as compared to the first wave. One of the long-term impacts of Covid-19 will be that the gains made when it comes to increasing child mortality and poverty in Africa 2025 and 2030 will be lost.

Hospitals and healthcare facilities across are facing financial challenges as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is attributed to unexpected changes in demand for health services. Due to the pandemic, many people have stopped visiting hospitals and many surgeries have been postponed. Significant declines in demand for routine services have impacted revenue. Also, the virus has increased demand for specialised acute care that has imposed unexpected or have taken a financial toll on the healthcare service providers.

Covid-19’s impact goes beyond healthcare
Women and children across the globe have been affected by the pandemic, especially in the African continent. It is estimated that Covid-19 has pushed around 150 million people around the world into poverty. African nations such as Kenya and Nigeria have been also impacted. The lockdowns and stay-home orders issued to curb the spread of the virus has had implications on food security.

In Africa, many children are provided with food in their respective schools. Such programmes are designed to provide children from marginalised communities with nutrition. The closure of schools due to the pandemic has impacted these children’s nutrition. The pandemic has also impacted many daily wage earners, thus leading to the loss of human capital. The pandemic has also affected the mental health of many Africans, be it a daily wage earner, a mother, or a healthcare worker.

Many cases of healthcare workers, Covid-19 patients, youth, or even the elderly suffering anxiety and depression have been recorded. It has become of utmost importance to integrate mental health education and counselling with psychosocial support during these testing times. A survey by WHO revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93 percent of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health is increasing. “The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating impact of Covid-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding,” the World Health Organisation said.

In many African nations, the indirect health effects of Covid-19 showed disruptions in essential health services. Even though the pandemic has negatively impacted the healthcare sector like the economy across the globe, it also presents an opportunity to reshape healthcare systems. The pandemic highlighted the shortcomings of the African healthcare system. Now, the government in these African nations can plan accordingly and direct funds to bolster their respective healthcare systems.

“Doctors’ associations across the world have also initiated talks with authorities to make their work environment safe from infections and to better protect health care providers outside the hospital. Through its Health Care in Danger initiative, the International Committee of the Red Cross published a checklist for a safer Covid-19 response addressed to managers of healthcare services, individual practitioners and health policymakers. WHO and partners are also conducting communication and outreach campaigns at country-level to support governments in addressing attacks on health care,” the WHO said.

Vaccination in Africa
The Covid-19 vaccination drive has been slow in Africa since it began on March 1st,2021. According to WHO, just five African countries, less than 10 percent of Africa’s 54 nations, are projected to hit the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of their population. African nations struggled to get their hands on vaccines initially, but the situation slightly improved since September as vaccine production was ramped up everywhere. Wealthier countries or vaccine-making nations pledged to make donations to the COVAX programme or even directly to African nations during the G7 summit held in the month of June in the UK.

WHO said, “This comes as the region grapples to meet the rising demand for essential vaccination commodities, such as syringes. It also said that three African countries- Seychelles, Mauritius and Morocco have already met the goal that was set in May by the World Health Assembly, the world’s highest health policy-setting body. At the current pace just two more countries, Tunisia and Cabo Verde, will also hit the target.

The vaccination rollout has been uneven across Africa because of the unsteady supply of vaccines and financial crunch. Most of the African nations are relying on the COVAX programme by WHO and on donations and bilateral deals. According to a World Bank report published in early October, “Of the 6.4 billion vaccine doses administered globally, only 2.5 percent have been administered in Africa – even though the continent accounts for a little over 17 percent of the world’s population.”

G20 countries have received 15 times more Covid-19 vaccine doses per capita than countries in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an analysis conducted by science analytics company Airfinity. With most of Africa relying on the COVAX programme, a delay in shipment or a supply chain crisis further adds to Africa’s woes. Another reason for the slow rate of vaccination is vaccine hesitancy or skepticism.

WHO has further revealed that more than 50 nations have missed their target of vaccinating around 10 percent of their population by the end of September. Most are these countries are in fact in Africa. According to WHO, only 4.4 percent of Africa was fully vaccinated in October. Comparatively, nearly 66 percent of the whole population has been fully vaccinated. In the EU, 62 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated and 55 percent of the population in the US.

“The looming threat of a vaccine commodities crisis hangs over the continent. Early next year Covid-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyze progress. Drastic measures must be taken to boost syringe production, fast. Countless African lives depend on it,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said.

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CEO Gregory Rockson told the media, “We saw this as an opportunity to leverage our pharmacies as virtual doctor offices so that patients could get examined remotely during a virtual consultation. This is what makes mPharma’s telemedicine unique.”

He also mentioned that mPharma already provides about 10,000 physician consultations to patients at the startup’s network of pharmacies. The virtual centres will enable them to do it electronically and expand their reach.

Earlier this year, mPharma, which already operates in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia, announced their expansion in Ethiopia. The healthtech startup signed a franchise agreement with Belayab Pharmaceuticals through its subsidiary, Haltons Limited.

In this regard, Rockson said, “Ethiopia is one of the most closed economies on the continent. This has made it a bit hard for other startups to launch there just because the government rarely allows foreign investments in the retail sector.”

mPharma was founded in 2013 by Rockson, Daniel Shoukimas and James Finucane. So far, the startup has raised over $50 million in separate funding rounds. Last year, it raised around $17 million in its Series C funding round.

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Kennedy Malama, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health in charge of Technical Services mentioned that the vaccines will be concentrated in provinces where vaccination demand is high.

During a Covid-19 briefing, he told the media, “Our plan is that this consignment will be tailored to the provinces which are fast-moving because now our strategy is that as we receive the vaccines, we ought to use them in the shortest period of time.”

Even since the vaccination programme was launched on April 14, Zambia has been administering the AstraZeneca vaccine that has to be available through the COVAX facility. Till now, Zambia has received two consignments so far.

The government also mentioned that they are encouraged by the progress made so far, with 2.8 percent of the eligible population so far receiving dose one and 0.8 percent receiving dose two. Zambia has also targeted to vaccinate around 8.4 million people to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Zambia has recorded 187,602 cases in total and the total number of deaths stood at 3,138.

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As mentioned earlier, the healthcare company is looking to change the face of traditional healthcare where hospitals are burdened with excessive demand. This leads to the shortage or strain on bed capacity and effective patient treatment and outcome is hindered. More than 80 percent of South Africa’s population, particularly the Black urban and rural poor, depending on the country’s underfunded and understaffed public health system, Quro plans to change this.

The company was founded in 2018 by Dr. Vuyane Mhlomi(CEO), Zikho Pali, and Rob Cornish. Mhlomi understood that it’s imperative to innovate South Africa’s healthcare from his own experience and decided to bring changes needed. It is a known fact that hospitals in Africa experience excessive demands. Mhlomi also mentioned that he has witnessed his parents suffer from chronic health ailments and had to wait for hours in a clinic before they could meet a medical professional.

Mhlomi told the media, “We were connected by our belief that the private healthcare sector can and should be doing more to shoulder the burden of healthcare provision in this country and on the continent generally. These escalating costs are the primary barrier to accessing healthcare in the private sector, leaving an overwhelming burden on our public health system.”

Quro medical works with 150 doctors, and Mhlomi believes that his company is the first one in Africa to accelerate its hospital-at-home services and scale its operations across the country.

Image credits- Quro Medical

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The agreement is reported to be based on the principles of humanity, solidarity, dedication, equality, and mutual benefit. The medical agreement will also renew the commitment between the two governments.

The agreement also aims to continue the comprehensive continuation of medical cooperation between the African nation and Cuba. The documents were signed by Honorable Senator MuthaiKagwe, Cabinet secretary for health, and Dr. José Angel Portal Miranda, the Cuban Minister of Public Health.

The deal was signed during a meeting that took place during the Cabinet Secretary’s three-week mission to Cuba where he aimed to strengthen Kenya’s primary healthcare system. The visit also saw him picking lessons from Cuba, following its world-class primary health care delivery model, and its highly effective model to fight malaria.

Speaking in Havana, Cuba, both the parties agreed that the countries have a pleasant professional relationship since 2001, especially in the healthcare sector. The cabinet secretary praised the Government of Cuba for its efforts in supporting Kenya’s health sector with such exchange programmes.

He added that the contribution of the Kenyan doctors has been of insurmountable help to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Cabinet Secretary Kagwe also stressed that the government of Kenya takes the security of Cuban doctors seriously and they are committed to the safe return of doctors Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez who were abducted by suspected al Shabaab militants two years ago.

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Investors such as Blue Haven Initiative and Kepple Africa Ventures participated in the funding round for TIBU which was oversubscribed by 100 percent. The funds will also be used to expand into tech-driven home-based sample collection market, the establishment of in-house lab capabilities, service expansion into home-based imaging, marketing, and business development.

Jason Carmichael, TIBU’s chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder, told Disrupt Africa, “We are extremely happy to work with such sophisticated investors and partners as Blue Haven Initiative and Kepple Africa Ventures. Their track record of providing tangible, non-monetary support to budding companies is something that we are particularly looking forward to as we expand services in Kenya.

“The proceeds from this round will be used to source great local software engineering talent so that we can build a globally competitive back-end that focuses on health service logistics, as well as a front-end platform that will allow for a more streamlined user experience when scheduling our many services.”

During the time of its launch, Carmicheal said that patients no longer have to run from one hospital to another to obtain paper or digital health records. This saves time and money. Each medical consultation has a dedicated records page where all health, lab, diagnosis, prescription and billing information are securely stored.

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Safaricom has started testing Afya Moja with Nakuru County. The partnership between Safaricom and Nakaru County will see the product improve healthcare services of more than 100,000 people through an integrated electronic medical records system. According to media reports, Safaricom will soon pilot test the programme in Soin-Mogotio Sub County Hospital, Kiptangwany Health Centre, Mirugi Kariuki Sub County Hospital and Gilgil Health Centre.

Steve Chege, the chief of Corporate Affairs at Safaricom said that the telco aims to make patient medical records portable by focusing on diabetic patients during the early stages before slowly progressing to chronic patients.
Safaricom recently became the first operator in East Africa to launch commercial 5G services in Kenya. Trials were carried out in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kissi and Kakamega. Safaricom plans to expand its trials to nearly 150 cities in the next 12 months.

It was reported that Safaricom is partnering with Nokia and Huawei to roll out its 5G services in Kenya. During a press conference, Safaricoms said, “Safaricom will be the first operator in East Africa to launch 5G services and will be showcasing the capabilities of the network with the aid of Huawei and Nokia’s technologies.”

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DilenyTech will use the funds to expand its AI-enabled platform that detects breast cancer. The startup develops solutions for medical imaging analysis, breast cancer risk assessment, and structured reporting in several medical applications. Founded in 2018, DilenyTech has been one of the fastest growing healthtech startups in Africa. The startup recently launched its platform in Arabic and in English.

Last month, it was reported that Egyptian telemedicine startup Docspert Health secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding. It will use the funds to help it expand its services across all of Egypt, and then into the Arabian Gulf.

In this regard, Hisham Mehanna, chairman of Docspert Health and a head and neck cancer surgeon told the media, “We are extremely pleased to have closed this deal with a group of angel investors from Silicon Valley and London.”

“The investors were particularly attracted not only to our innovative platform and business model, but also to our ethos of social responsibility. They were keen to help Docspert Health in its journey to provide the best medical advice to the people of the Middle East and Africa.”

During the same period, another Egyptian healthtech VRapeutic has joined the Canadian MakerLaunch accelerator programme at the University of Ottawa. By joining the programme, the startup plans to expand in the Canadian market.

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In the 48-week programme, VRapeutic will work on product development, in addition to adding more features and enriching the user experience in its existing products. It is reported that the healthtech will also work on designing and implement its first marketing campaign in Canada.

VRapeutic designs 3D virtual environments that are especially tailored to instill diverse life skills in children, including social, cognitive, motor, and academic skills. It also offers unique cloud accounts for every doctor and child, where the performance data and the request modules for every child can be accessed.

In this regard, Ahmad Al Kabbany, who founded VRapeutic in 2017, told the media, “We develop our own curricula for essential life skills, featuring unique technical features, customisability, and a design centered around widely-adopted assessment tools. We are pioneering the integration between virtual environments, bio-sensors, and machine intelligence to enrich the interactions inside the environments.

“We have had a research-oriented approach, in which every product is developed and validated under the supervision of renowned professionals. Hence, we know that the first stage has been time demanding, before we can scale up sales, which establishes our long-term scientific credibility.”

Last year, the startup was also among five African companies to have received the  UNICEF Innovation Fund. The selected companies benefitted from the seed investment provided by UNICEF and gained access to support from UNICEF’s innovation team and networks.

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The health workers in Kenya are demanding better working conditions, medical and insurance cover. They are also demanding an additional workforce, provision of quality, and adequate personal protective equipment in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Strikes carried out by health workers in Kenya entered their third week.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union said on Twitter that there had been no resolution of grievances raised. The union tweeted, “The Kenya government has neglected the Welfare, Safety & Health of health care workers. No provision of medical insurance, Workman injury benefits and Compensation  and lack of adequate quality PPEs. This greatly hampers the fight against Covid-19 in a country with an acute shortage of doctors.”

Kenya-based healthtech startup Ilara Health is set to expand its diagnostic reach across Africa. The startup raised $3.75 million in its Series A funding round led by TLcom Capital, with participation from DOB Equity, Global Ventures and Chandaria Capital. The funds will help Ilara Health further expand across Kenya and into a new East African market within the next 12 months. It will also be used for the development of its integrated patient health management platform.

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