Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Honourable Minister of Health of Mozambique, the Chair of the SADC Ministers,
Honourable Ministers of Health of SADC Member States,
Executive Secretary of the SADC Secretariat,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen:
It is my pleasure really to virtually come home to join you for this important meeting and share some reflections, as we review the progress in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and consider priorities going forward.
This is a critical juncture in the battle against this virus, which has been waging for more than a year. During this very difficult time, there have been two epidemic waves peaking in July 2020 and January 2021.
With rising cases and limited information available, governments took fast and decisive action to prevent further spread, implementing sometimes extensive lockdowns. The livelihoods of many Africans, including SADC citizens, came to a complete standstill sometimes and the pandemic has had significant repercussions across all sectors of society.
Heads of State have provided strong leadership in steering the response, and I commend them for their leadership and you, Honourable Ministers, for the important role that you have played supporting, advising and guiding the actions in your countries. You have ensured that public health measures are implemented up to scale working with different stakeholders, while also maintaining other essential health services.
Now with the tragic situation unfolding in India, we are again seeing the risk of flare-ups of the disease in Africa, including in the SADC Region. There have been more than 4.6 million COVID-19 cases in African countries and sadly 124,000 lives have been lost. Southern Africa is the most affected region on the continent, with around 2 million cases and 62,000 deaths – we have to recognize that 80% of this burden has been in one country, South Africa.
The present situation is very fragile. We need only go out grocery shopping to see that adherence to preventive measures is slipping in our communities. In addition, variants are circulating, vaccination levels are still low, and around 10 African countries including South Africa, Seychelles and Madagascar have reported recent case increases.
So, it is vital that a heightened state of readiness is maintained, with strong surveillance, clinical care, supply chain and communications capacities in place.
I commend the countries that are using this time to prepare, to review resurgence plans down to the district level, and to pre-position the resources and expand training of health workers, because we know that these tasks become very challenging when there is an epidemic surge.
To prevent COVID-19 from spreading, you know better than I, Honourable Ministers, that we have to help our communities sustain frequent hand hygiene, physical distancing and wearing of masks. These are key tools to be used in workplaces, schools and other locations where people come together. Mass gatherings at funerals, religious services, sporting events and election rallies need to be very carefully managed in line with the local epidemiological situation.
As WHO we are working with you, Honourable Ministers, and your teams, as well as with partners, including the regional economic communities and Africa CDC to strengthen institutional capacities and procure essential commodities for countries through the global UN Supply Portal, which WHO is coordinating.
As the implementing agency for a grant with the African Development Bank for example, we are working with six SADC countries to procure laboratory supplies, and equipment to protect health workers and manage cases. In addition, we are providing support to Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania, through additional African Development Bank grants.
Tracking variants is a very hot issue and capacities are rapidly being increased. When this work started last year, only South Africa and the DRC were able to do genomic sequencing and now six SADC countries can do so, and we expect this to expand and increase further in the coming months. We encourage countries that have not yet developed these capacities, to ship at least 20 samples a month to their assigned sequencing reference supportive laboratories in a neighbouring country.
WHO is available to provide ongoing guidance and assistance, and the Africa CDC through its Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (APGI) is also able to provide support.
On vaccination, after a delayed start due to inequities in the distribution of supplies globally, countries such Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe and others have moved quickly to deliver a significant proportion of their vaccines in a short space of time.
Huge challenges are now mounting again, and through the COVAX Facility we are working very hard to make sure the vaccines are allocated and shipped for timely delivery of the second dose. I have to acknowledge that there will most likely be additional delays impacting delivery of the second dose supplies in several countries because we have an Indian supplier as our main supplier in this platform. However, it is our top priority to minimize these delays. WHO emergency use listing of the Sinopharm vaccine last week could have a positive impact on the supply pipeline and deals have been finalized with Moderna and Novavax to start shipments through COVAX from October onwards this year.
So, I have to acknowledge that we have to navigate the situation by providing timely second doses with very detailed planning and information sharing between yourselves, ourselves in WHO, the African Union and other providers of vaccines.
To overcome global supply shortages in the short term, I urge Member States to join with WHO and partners to petition the world’s largest economies to share their doses as soon as possible, and to work towards vaccine equity by ensuring the most at-risk people in all countries are protected first. This is not a matter of charity; it is in the interests of all countries globally.
In parallel, there is a huge opportunity to leverage the momentum around vaccine manufacturing. As WHO, we are ready to work with you to strengthen regulatory systems on the continent, to engage the private sector, and to build the expertise needed to produce vaccines and other products locally. This will strengthen our self-reliance and ensure that Africa, including SADC, is no longer at the back of the queue for essential commodities.
The advocacy of SADC Member States is needed to join South Africa, India and other countries, in campaigning to the World Trade Organization, to waive trade-related intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. This pandemic is a once in a 100-year event, and precisely the kind of occasion when exceptions should be made to save lives and safeguard global health security.
Scaling-up local production will also require a conducive regulatory environment, guided by the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum, or AVAREF, and the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Initiative. I encourage all SADC countries to ratify the treaty for the African Medicines Agency, to further advance regional and continental regulatory harmonization.
For now, while accessing the vaccines continues to be limited, as WHO, our position is that requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a prerequisite to travel – so-called vaccine passports – would exacerbate inequities.
Testing remains essential to know where the virus is, and I urge all countries to increase the use of antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests, which are fast, effective and easy-to-use. RDTs can quickly identify symptomatic cases and test their contacts, and help to reach communities with limited access to health facilities and laboratories, to quickly receive their results.
We are also working with Africa CDC on harmonizing COVID testing across countries. The Vaxglobal platform rolled out in Zimbabwe is an innovative example of addressing counterfeit test certificates.
Together we can learn from good practices like this and adapt and scale-up innovative solutions across countries to strengthen health systems and action across sectors for better health.
In support of finding homegrown solutions to this pandemic, with Africa CDC, we have established the Regional Expert Advisory Committee on Traditional Medicine for COVID-19 and with this group’s guidance, several clinical trials are now underway, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and South Africa.
We will continue supporting the development and integration of traditional medicine as a key part of our health systems and to elevate African traditional medicine and African solutions to the world stage.
In closing, the COVID-19 situation remains challenging and is going on longer than many of us expected. Vigilance in the public health and preventive measures remains key to prevent future waves of this pandemic and to fast track the social and economic recovery.
As WHO, we are completely committed to supporting you, to ending this pandemic and advancing other health priorities.
I’d like to wish you fruitful deliberations and thank you very much for your attention.