The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reports that to date there have been 104,279 cases of COVID-19 and 3,185 deaths, with the majority of those cases occurring in the northern region of the continent. South Africa has recorded the number of cases, while Egypt and Algeria have recorded the number of tragic deaths.
However, even with those numbers, it turns out that Africa has fared better than other continents. In fact, the World Health Organization reports that Africa has the fewest cases among the most populous continents.
Although the reasons are not entirely clear, it is conceivable that one of the reasons for this difference is a lack of knowledge at the national level, which makes it difficult to provide accurate and granular information. In addition, many believe that a lack of testing plays a role in underestimating the true number of cases.
While there is some truth to these theories, they undermine the abundant efforts made by many African governments to aggressively impose restrictions on travel, work, and social gatherings. In addition, Africans tend to be, on average, younger and less obese than their American or European counterparts, which may explain why there have been fewer deaths.
Although the COVID-19 numbers reported in Africa are accurate, it is undeniable that cases are rising across the continent, with some urban hotspots experiencing a really extensive escalation in recent weeks. Many parts of Africa have not yet peaked.
While each and every citizen and patient has had to make many sacrifices and suffer from the coronavirus, one organization of other people in particular has been damaged and forgotten: surgical patients.
For surgeons and their patients, the coming months may have devastating consequences. So far, elective surgeries have been canceled or delayed in most countries. This is a challenge around the world, but in Africa, patients are especially vulnerable because they seek care when their disease is more advanced.
In the United States, for example, many tumors and cancers are discovered accidentally or have few symptoms. Patients would likely seek treatment in those early stages and are very likely to have an intelligent prognosis. In addition, in many African countries, patients may not have the same access to health care, so tumors and cancer are not detected until much later. Therefore, waiting to receive treatment after a diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death.
Another key difference between African countries and many European and North American countries is that many of their citizens rely on public transportation. With strict lockdowns, buses, trains, and commuter cars have gone into hibernation, making it difficult for patients and caregivers to reach hospitals. .
The assistant surgeon prepares the operating table for a C-section in Boali on Feb. 14, 2018. In Central Africa, one in 24 children dies in the first month of life, the second worst neonatal mortality rate in the world, according to a report published through UNICEF. / AFP PHOTO/FLORENT VERGNES (Photo credits read FLORENT VERGNES/AFP via Getty Images)
Even before the pandemic, many African regions were already facing shortages of surgical, anaesthetist and obstetric staff. Today, many physical care providers have been reassigned to other facilities that desperately need manpower, such as large care teams and emergency departments. In addition, valuable resources needed for surgeries, such as blood, oxygen, and ventilator banks, have been diverted to teams committed to fighting COVID-19.
COVID-19 has also particularly disrupted education and surgical education at a time when those processes, despite everything, have begun to gain momentum. Of all the topics, surgery is not well compatible with existing and available virtual platforms, given that it focuses on three-dimensional anatomy and teaching procedures.
Education has been affected only by the lack of elective courses, but also by changes in forums and qualifying exams. The South African Medical School has cancelled or postponed some of its oral exams for the first semester. and South Africa has been forced to make many changes to its written exams, and there are fears of more cancellations in the future.
Professor Abebe Bekele is a general and thoracic surgeon and founding dean of the University for Global Health Equity in Butaro, Rwanda. In an interview with me last week, he explained, “COVID took us by surprise. In this region, university education in medicine is absolutely disrupted, residency systems are struggling, and surgical facilities are being severely affected.
Surgery, anesthesia, and obstetric care are integral to all aspects of physical care delivery, adding tumor removal or biopsy to the treatment of cancer, cesarean section pregnancy, burns, and trauma. In recent decades, Africa has slowly noticed an expansion in the provision of health services. such facilities across the continent, as evidenced by the growing interest in designing national plans for surgery, obstetrics, and anesthesia. But this expansion will almost in fact be hampered by the oppressive new advances of COVID-19. The only question is: for how long?
For now, it turns out that all health care providers can do is continue to help patients as much as imaginable by getting them into operating rooms as temporarily as COVID-19 allows. In the long term, it is imperative to move forward aggressively on a Timetable that calls for the strengthening of the surgical system, not only to combat the ravages of this pandemic, but also to prevent death and suffering in the next.
Educational projects will have to be prioritized, and cutting-edge responses are the only way to create a professional workforce in surgery, anesthesia and obstetrics. To this end, Dean Bekele adds: “We want to build a physically powerful virtual learning infrastructure as soon as possible. possible, otherwise the COVID outbreak is sure to leave a big, ugly educational scar. “
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The perspectives expressed in this article reflect those of the author, not his institutions, nor do they reflect his reports within those institutions.