The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic : an urgent need to relook at the training of the African health workforce
Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Health & Medical Publishing Group
Abstract
As of 11 March 2020, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic had infected
over 120 000 people in more than 90 countries, of whom 4 369 had
died. [1] As recent modelling analysis highlights, the evolving impact
of SARS-CoV-2 will be as a large outbreak in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA) that may rapidly overwhelm existing health services.[2] To avoid
the worst of outcomes, African health systems must act quickly and
decisively. Investing in health professions education will be essential
to both containing and managing the pandemic and any other new
infections in the future. Here we describe how a transnational HIV
training project, implemented by the African Forum for Research and
Education in Health (AFREhealth)[3] and the University of California,
San Francisco (UCSF), offers a template for how we can deploy
African-bred approaches to address this emerging threat.
Description
CITATION: Reid, M., Suleman, F. & De Villiers, M. 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic : an urgent need to relook at the training of the African health workforce. South African Medical Journal, 110(4):261, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i4.14713.
The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za
The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za
Keywords
COVID-19 (Disease), Medical personnel -- Training -- Africa, Coronaviruses -- Africa
Citation
Reid, M., Suleman, F. & De Villiers, M. 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic : an urgent need to relook at the training of the African health workforce. South African Medical Journal, 110(4):261, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i4.14713.