Dr Sylvia Vito, head of Africa Acceleration at AstraZeneca, says that the health-care system in Africa is unsustainable and weak.
Dr Vito said the poor state of health care in many African countries is another red flag to medical professionals.
Speaking at the third edition of the Kusi Ideas Festival in Accra on Friday (10 December), Dr Vito said: “COVID has exposed how we didn’t invest in the right systems – we didn’t invest in our health for tomorrow – and I think it’s not only the role of governments: it is the role of all of us as Africans to be vested in strengthening the primary health-care systems,” Dr Vito added.
According to her, if there is one area that vividly sums up Africa’s development challenges, it is the field of health.
She urged the media to use their voice and hold all sides accountable for doing the right things through what they communicate and put out there to help describe the narrative of how the structure of Africa’s healthcare is.
Dr Vito said, “As we are speaking, we are still at the back end developing other forms of vaccines and treatments as scientists; we are working hard to make sure to give you the best.’’
She added that the majority of Africans, mostly the poor and those in the middle-income bracket, rely on underfunded public health facilities while a small minority has access to a well-funded, quality private health care system.
Challenges
“We have to recognise the efforts done by governments. It’s been tough and the challenges we have faced a year later have exposed the vulnerability of the continent as unable to control its own destiny. We can still do better,” Dr Vito said.
AstraZeneca has managed to offer two-thirds of vaccines to developing world countries, with 45 million doses distributed to Africa. The rest of the Mehta vaccines include those from Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
“We started out well,” said Dr Vito, “but with the Indian ban on vaccine exports the vaccination campaign not just in Africa but the rest of the developing world slowed down.
“However, in the last two months, we have delivered 17.5 million vaccines across Africa,” Dr Vito said.
Winifred Lartey
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