Sehoole Tshegofatso J
Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2020 Sep 14;12(1):e1-e3. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2476.
For Africa, the backdrop1 against which COVID-19 emerged is a stark one. Although sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 11% of the world's population, it bears 24% of the global disease burden. The continent is home to 60% of the people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and over 90% of malarial patients. In this region, infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV cause 69% of deaths. As states respond to COVID-19, we need to keep our eyes open to what effective responses are notifying us about our healthcare systems, so that we can craft sustainable interventions as a result and uphold the right to health. This is especially true in the light of the ongoing nature of pandemics on the continent, making urgent the need to maximise the value of our health system and its resources, as we seek lasting transformation.
对于非洲而言，新冠疫情出现的背景十分严峻。尽管撒哈拉以南非洲地区人口占世界人口的11%，但其承担着全球24%的疾病负担。该大陆有60%的人感染人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV），超过90%的疟疾患者。在这个地区，疟疾和HIV等传染病导致69%的死亡。随着各国应对新冠疫情，我们需要密切关注有效应对措施向我们揭示的关于医疗体系的情况，以便我们能够据此制定可持续的干预措施并维护健康权。鉴于该大陆疫情的持续性质，在我们寻求持久变革时，迫切需要最大限度地提高卫生系统及其资源的价值，这一点尤为重要。
