Oli Health Magazine Organization, Research and Education, Kigali, Rwanda.
Department of Projects and Research, Clinton Global Initiative University, New York City, New York, USA.
Brain Behav. 2022 Sep;12(9):e2742. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2742. Epub 2022 Aug 11.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has hampered the progress of neurological healthcare services for patients across Africa. Before the pandemic, access to these services was already limited due to elevated treatment costs among uninsured individuals, shortage of medicines, equipment, and qualified personnel, immense distance between residing areas and neurological facilities, and a limited understanding of neurological diseases and their presentation by both the health workers and the African population.
The databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and the National Library of Medicine were searched for literature. All articles on neurological disorders in Africa were considered.
This review article explores the challenges of providing the best services for patients suffering from neurological disorders in Africa amid the COVID-19 pandemic and provides evidence-based recommendations.
As Africa's governments made more resources available to support patients affected by COVID-19, neurological care received less priority and the capacity and competency to treat patients with neurological disorders thus suffered substantially. Both short-term and long-term strategies are needed to improve the quality of neurological services after the pandemic in the region.
To strengthen Africa's neurological services capability during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, African governments must ensure appropriate healthcare resource allocation, perform neurology management training, and increase health security measures in medication supply. Long-term strategies include incorporating responsible finance and resource procurement and advancement of tele-neurology. International collaboration is essential to promote the sustainable improvement of neurological services in Africa.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行阻碍了非洲各地患者的神经保健服务的进展。在大流行之前，由于未参保个人的治疗费用升高、药品、设备和合格人员短缺、居住地区与神经科设施之间的距离遥远以及对神经疾病及其表现的理解有限，这些服务的获取已经受到限制，卫生工作者和非洲民众均如此。
我们在 PubMed、Google Scholar、Science Direct 和美国国家医学图书馆的数据库中搜索文献。考虑了所有关于非洲神经障碍的文章。
本文综述探讨了在 COVID-19 大流行期间为非洲患有神经障碍的患者提供最佳服务所面临的挑战，并提供了循证建议。
随着非洲各国政府提供更多资源以支持受 COVID-19 影响的患者，神经科护理的优先级降低，治疗神经障碍患者的能力和能力因此大大下降。该地区在大流行后需要短期和长期策略来改善神经服务的质量。
为了在 COVID-19 大流行期间和之后加强非洲的神经服务能力，非洲各国政府必须确保适当的医疗保健资源分配、进行神经科管理培训以及增加药物供应方面的卫生安全措施。长期战略包括纳入负责任的财务和资源采购以及远程神经学的发展。国际合作对于促进非洲神经服务的可持续改善至关重要。
