Africa officially regrets 133,000 deaths from Covid-19 2020, according to the World Health Organization. But within organizations, we realize that this figure is largely underestimated due to a lack of testing and adequate reporting. According to a US study, the real path for African victims of Covid could be three to four times higher.
Coviden could have actually killed up to 500,000 people in Africa last year. This is the conclusion of the Seattle University Institute for Health Measurement in the USA, which developed a calculation model for regions that do not have reliable data. It is true that Africa only declares 8% of its deaths to be civil status, and that for Covid it lacks much testing.
“Tests are not available and, when they are, quality laboratories are not available or staff do,” said Abdou Salam Gueye, director of emergency programs at the WHO Regional Office in Africa. Once a person has died, they are not tested to determine if they have Covid or not. ”
Dr Thierno Baldé, Head of the Operational Partnership Unit at WHO Africa, is more measured. “There is clearly an underestimation of the number of deaths, but at the same time we have not seen a significant number of cramped cemeteries that we have seen in other parts of the world or massive funerals. In Africa, deaths are socio-cultural events, so if we saw a very large, completely inexplicable trend in the number of deaths from Covid-19, I think it would also be known. “
Despite the underestimation of Covid’s death in Africa, we are therefore far, he assures, from an uncontrolled situation.
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