Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA, ICAP’s global director, and Jessica Justman, MD, senior technical director, published an op-ed in Columbia News on March 23 noting that “Africa is facing the real possibility of a continent-wide tragedy” and calling for action to “enhance preparedness and to stand in solidarity with these most vulnerable countries in our global community.”

For many low and middle-income sub-Saharan African countries, the health system infrastructure remains fragile and ill-prepared for a massive increase in the number of cases. Kenya, with a population of 50 million people, has only 200 intensive care beds in the entire country. For context, the United States, which is on the verge of being overwhelmed by the epidemic in some locations, has 34 intensive care beds for every 100,000 people.

Read the full article on Columbia News

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