WHO AFRICA URGES COUNTRIES TO RESTORE HEALTHCARE SERVICE TO PRE-COVID LEVELS

WHO regional director, Doctor Matshidiso Moeti, said two years on, interruptions to essential health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic were still being broadly felt.

FILE: World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti. Picture: World Health Organization (WHO)/Facebook.

Kevin Brandt | 

CAPE TOWN - WHO Africa has stressed that countries should restore healthcare services to pre-pandemic levels.

The global health body said that 40% of African countries were reporting disruptions to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services.

WHO regional director, Doctor Matshidiso Moeti, said two years on, interruptions to essential health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic were still being broadly felt.

"The consequences of this for women's health are a serious cause for concern. One survey of 11 countries in Africa revealed that more than half saw a 16% increase in maternal deaths between February in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019," Moeti said.

On the COVID-19 pandemic, Moeti said that coronavirus case numbers continued trending downwards in most counties following the fourth wave peak across the continent.

"There have now been more than 11 million COVID-19 cases and almost 250,000 lives sadly lost in Africa due to the pandemic," Moeti said.