Coexistence and management of COVID-19 pandemic with other epidemics in West Africa: lessons learnt and policy implications.
| Autor: | Lokossou VK; Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control, Abuja, Nigeria.; West African Health Organization, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso., Bunyoga D; Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia., Sombie I; West African Health Organization, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso., Okolo S; West African Health Organization, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | The Pan African medical journal [Pan Afr Med J] 2021 Apr 08; Vol. 38, pp. 341. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 08 (Print Publication: 2021). |
| DOI: | 10.11604/pamj.2021.38.341.27901 |
| Abstrakt: | Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa, the region has faced a coexistence of epidemics raising questions about the management of the coexistence between COVID-19 and other epidemic prone diseases. We undertook a cross-sectional study covering the period from February to August 2020 in which an extensive desk review was completed and questionnaire was submitted to National Public Health Institutes. In addition, we conducted online interviews with 10 West African countries to discuss in-depth the strategies and challenges in managing the coexistence of epidemics. Eight epidemics coexisted with COVID-19 in West Africa. These epidemics were yellow fever and measles in five countries; meningitis in 4 countries; vaccine derived poliomyelitis and dengue fever in two countries; Lassa fever, Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever and hepatitis E virus in one country. COVID-19 pandemic has brought both positive and negative effects to the management of other epidemics. The management of coexistence was similar in most ECOWAS countries with different incident management systems set up to manage separate outbreaks. The experience in managing the coexistence of epidemics led ECOWAS Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control to recommend to member states that they should reinforce regular disease surveillance for seasonal outbreaks and country specific epidemiological diseases profile while not forgetting other emerging and remerging infectious diseases. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. (Copyright: Virgil Kuassi Lokossou et al.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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