covid-19

in Africa

Coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa

Since early Summer 2021 there has been an alarming escalation of COVID-19 cases in sub-Saharan Africa.

For four successive weeks there was a 28% week on week increase in cases. Hospitals are filling with patients. Oxygen and treatments are in short supply.

Meanwhile, less than 2% of Africans are fully vaccinated. While rich countries of the West are rolling out effective vaccination programmes, Africa is currently lagging far behind.

VACCINE EQUITY
We believe that there should be vaccine equity, and that action should be taken to prevent large-scale stockpiling of vaccines by rich nations, while poorer countries are struggling to access treatments for rapidly rising COVID-19 cases.

It is currently estimated that wealthy Western countries will have stockpiled 1.9 billion surplus doses of vaccines by August, 2021. This is unjust, and leaves the poorest far behind. You can join us in pressing for fairness. Click Here for More.

OUR WORK
Self Help Africa is working with our local teams, local partners, with government ministries and UN agencies to support efforts to disseminate information, promote safety measures, and curb the pandemic in the countries where we work.

Our projects are continuing with modifications, to deliver training and input provision to ensure physical distancing. COVID-19 specific awareness raising and prevention is being included in all training, with hand-washing facilities/sanitisers being provided for staff, partners, and smallholders at aggregation centres and cooperatives.

Other COVID-19 responses include:

Using mobile phone platforms to disseminate messaging and provide up to date advice on COVID-19 prevention measures.
In Kenya and Uganda, farmers and agricultural cooperatives are being helped to secure markets for their produce in a time of lockdown.
In Malawi, we have commenced a programme to distribute information, soap, jerry cans and other necessary equipment to households in the country's far north. This was commenced on a pilot basis with 9,000 households and planning is underway to roll out efforts on a wider basis, to close to 150,000 households, in the coming weeks.

Read a letter that published in Irish national media from our CEO Ray Jordan, on Monday, 19th July, 2021. Irish Times Letters.

Read here a message from Self Help Africa CEO Ray Jordan.