Cabrini St Philip's Clinic, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ESwatini.
Centre for Multidisciplinary Research in Health Science, University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122, Milan, Italy.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Oct 5;114(10):784-786. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/traa073.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed health system weaknesses of economically wealthy countries with advanced technologies. COVID-19 is now moving fast across Africa where small outbreaks have been reported so far. There is a concern that with the winter transmission will grow rapidly. Despite efforts of African Governments to promptly establish mitigating measures, rural areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, risk being neglected. In those settings, faith-based and other non-governmental organizations, if properly equipped and supported, can play a crucial role in slowing the spread of COVID-19. We describe our experience in two rural health facilities in eSwatini and Ethiopia highlighting the struggle towards preparedness and the urgency of international support to help prevent a major public health disaster.
译文：新冠疫情暴露了经济富裕、技术先进的国家的卫生系统的弱点。目前，新冠病毒在非洲迅速传播，此前已报告了一些小规模的暴发。人们担心，随着冬季的到来，病毒传播速度将会加快。尽管非洲各国政府迅速采取了缓解措施，但农村地区，特别是撒哈拉以南非洲地区，仍面临被忽视的风险。在这些地区，如果得到适当的装备和支持，以宗教为基础的和其他非政府组织可以在减缓新冠病毒传播方面发挥关键作用。我们描述了在斯威士兰和埃塞俄比亚的两个农村卫生机构的经验，强调了为做好准备而进行的斗争以及国际支持的紧迫性，以帮助防止重大的公共卫生灾难。
