SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing in Africa: needs and challenges

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on malaria elimination

“…However, it is not yet clear why this phenomenon did not yet spread widely in Africa. It can be that Africa has managed an effective shut down which limited the spread and this placed them ahead of time compared with other countries or perhaps that they are simply behind in the timeline as a result of poor reporting due to lack of molecular testing capacity ( Nachega et al, 2020 ; Adebisi et al, 2020 ; Quaresima et al, 2020 ). Moreover, data regarding environmental conditions, genetic factors and differing immune responses to COVID-19 are limited and still emerging ( Wang et al, 2020 ; Shi et al, n.d. ; Vetter et al, 2020 ; Prompetchara et al, 2020 ; Ortiz-Fernandez and Sawalha, 2020 ; Araujo and Naimi, 2020 ; Gursel and Gursel, 2020 ).…”

Proposed model for hospital and community pharmacy services during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria

“…Many African countries including Nigeria are still making efforts to increase their testing capacity. [ 8 ] Community pharmacy can also play a significant role in increasing COVID‐19 testing capacity upon the availability of rapid diagnostic tools at the community level as well as ensuring uninterrupted immunization programme and also providing mental health support to those who need it amid this pandemic. In addition to ensuring sustainability of medication supply at the community and hospital pharmacy, it is essential that the pharmacists reiterated the need for patients to adhere to their current treatment regimens to ensure good health and prevent any additional demand on the stressed healthcare services.…”

COVID-19: Community Pharmacy Practice in Africa

“…Community pharmacists also continue to play their role in ensuring regular supply of medicines to the public without interruption and to support response efforts (13) by spreading information on COVID-19-related precautions, including proper hand and respiratory hygiene measures, as well as ensuring ease of access to face masks and guidelines for proper use and disposal and the need to maintain physical distance (14). Additionally, COVID-19 diagnostics testing is a challenge in many African countries (15). This also provides an area worth exploring by community pharmacies upon availability of accurate and rapid diagnostic tests.…”