COVID-19 epidemiology

MBABANE – Explaining the variant’s trajectory in South Africa, Professor Salim Abdool .arim, Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), emphasised the need to continue trusting and implementing strong public health interventions.

Professor .arim is among those leading research into the omicron variant.

“There is no need to panic. We’ve dealt with variants before, including those with immune escape. Closing borders has almost no benefit. Public health systems work, public interventions like masks and social distancing work. Let’s use them,” he said. Professor Penny Moore, Virologist at the University of Witwatersrand, said real time phenotypic assessments of emerging variants in Africa was essential, particularly in the continuing context of under vaccination and in some places high levels of HIV.

The professor pointed to the fact that the rapid pivot of SARS-Cov-2 was enabled by strong existing platforms and collaborations, most of which have been developed over 20 years. On the other hand, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar, the Dean at the Faculty of Population Health Sciences at the University College London, said the continent needed greater investment in health systems and national economies.

It’s only through that, that people will not ban us when we detect new variants, while not giving us access to the relevant technologies,” he said.

E165 TRILLION SPENT ON COVID-19

Professor %enedict Oramah, the President of Afreximbank, said the cost of combating pandemics had always been very high, both

in loss of lives and economies.

He said estimates showed that COVID-19 has cost the world E165 trillion (US$11 dollars). Afreximbank is a trade finance bank for Africa established in October 1993 to finance and promote intra-extra African trade. Dr. Michael Makanga told the conference that COVID-19 has really shown that countries needed to invest in research information systems, strong collaboration and continuing to grow strategic partnerships with both public and private sector ± to draw in money, but also expertise and bi-directional exchange.

During the closing ceremony on Thursday, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, said COVID-19 has demonstrated that “when health is at risk, everything is at risk.” He said “health is not a luxury, but a fundamental human right.” He pointed to the fact that health is not a cost, but an investment.”

Dr. Tedros thanked South Africa and %otswana for rapidly detecting sequencing

and reporting the emergence of omicron variant.

He said it was deeply disappointing to him that these countries have been

penalised with ineffective and discriminatory travel bans.

“We shouldn’t penalise transparency,” he said.