COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

In a New England Journal of Medicine "Perspective" published today, Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, global director of ICAP at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Jessica Justman, MD, ICAP's senior technical director, and associate professor of epidemiology, urge a coordinated global effort in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with "countries around the world [taking] concrete steps to assist Africa in staying ahead of the curve, even as they confront their own epidemics."

"When HIV spread like wildfire across the African continent, it took decades for the world to mobilize a response. Epidemics know no borders, and success in controlling the epidemic in any one country will be limited if epidemics continue to rage elsewhere. Today, we have the chance to avoid a repeat of history. Africans are doing their part. Now is the time for us to do ours," write the authors.