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Presently, the COVID-19 vaccine is seen as a means to an end in light of other challenges, such as vaccine inequity. Through COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), an initiative founded to guarantee fair and equitable distribution, vaccine hesitancy remains a critical component that needs to be addressed in sub-Saharan Africa. Utilizing a documentary search strategy and using the keywords and subject headings Utilitarianism and COVID-19 or Vaccine hesitancy and sub-Saharan Africa, this paper identified 67 publications from different databases (PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science), which were further screened by title and full text to achieve (n = 6) publications that were analyzed. The reviewed papers demonstrate that vaccine hesitancy occurs against a colonial backdrop of inequities in global health research, social–cultural complexities, poor community involvement and public distrust. All of these factors undermine the confidence that is crucial for sustaining collective immunity in vaccine programs. Even though mass vaccination programs are known to limit personal freedom, the exchange of information between healthcare professionals and citizens must be improved to encourage complete disclosure of vaccine information at the point of delivery. Moreover, addressing components of vaccine hesitancy should involve relying not on coercive public policies but on consistent ethical strategies that go beyond current healthcare ethics toward broader bioethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human Resource Development (HRD) is key for the achievement of macroeconomic outcomes such as economic growth and development. This is particularly true in development-deficient sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In addition, HRD is vital for the successful delivery of international commitments such as Agenda 2030 and aspirations such as national visions. In SSA countries, largely due to increased demand for HRD in the face of post-2007 and Covid-19 fiscal strictures, the public financing of pre-service HRD is problematic. The purpose of the paper is to test the applicability of this situation in Botswana. The paper, rooted in interpretive research philosophy, adopted the qualitative case study approach. This was a desktop study that used secondary data sources. It concluded that the Botswana case mirrors the SSA situation. Concluding, the general lesson ensuing from this case is that there is a need for sustainable HRD financing in the sub-region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the determinants of fiscal space within the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, utilising a panel of 33 countries from 2005 to 2021. The paper applied the panel threshold, difference, and system generalised method of moments (GMM) regression techniques. The empirical results found evidence of constrained fiscal space and poor governance in Central, Western, and Eastern Africa. The results further unveiled that an enhancement in governance indicators beyond −0.23 for the governance index, −0.15 for control of corruption, −0.98 for the rule of law, −0.37 for regulatory quality, −0.15 for voice and accountability, +0.36 for political stability, and −0.61 for government effectiveness, respectively, increase fiscal space. Moreover, the study concluded that the output gap, COVID-19, trade openness, and economic growth impact fiscal space availability in Central, Western, Southern, and Eastern Africa. The paper investigated whether the COVID-19 pandemic and governance quality significantly influenced fiscal space within SSA. We strongly recommend enhancement in all facets of governance through comprehensive restructuring of governance policies across all SSA countries. Another key recommendation is fostering trade openness to expand tax revenue generation and broaden the tax base, thereby providing the continent with greater fiscal space and improved resilience to unforeseen shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a representative survey of firms in 38 countries, eight of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this paper documents the impact of COVID-19 and firms' coping strategies in SSA, benchmarking with other regions. The paper shows that the impact of the pandemic is more pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa compared with other regions. This disproportionate impact is not explained by differences in sectoral composition and other firm characteristics, but likely by the level of development. This underscores the important economic and structural contexts that predate the pandemic in understanding the differential impact. Contrary to expectations, the findings show that businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to adjust their operations or products and services to adapt to the shock than those in other regions. However, firms in the region lag in leveraging digital technologies, remote working, and e-commerce, compared with those in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges to health systems worldwide, including the control of non-COVID-19 diseases. Malaria cases and deaths may increase due to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in malaria-endemic countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This scoping review aims to summarize information on public health-relevant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria situation in SSA. Methods: Review of publications and manuscripts on preprint servers, in peer-reviewed journals and in grey literature documents from 1 December, 2019 to 9 June, 2021. A structured search was conducted on different databases using predefined eligibility criteria for the selection of articles. Results: A total of 51 papers have been included in the analysis. Modelling papers have predicted a significant increase in malaria cases and malaria deaths in SSA due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many papers provided potential explanations for expected COVID-19 effects on the malaria burden; these ranged from relevant diagnostical and clinical aspects to reduced access to health care services, impaired availability of curative and preventive commodities and medications, and effects on malaria prevention campaigns. Compared to previous years, fewer country reports provided data on the actual number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020, with mixed results. While highly endemic countries reported evidence of decreased malaria cases in health facilities, low endemic countries reported overall higher numbers of malaria cases and deaths in 2020. Conclusions: The findings from this review provide evidence for a significant but diverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria in SSA. There is the need to further investigate the public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the malaria burden. Protocol registered on Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STQ9D [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, the recent SARS-CoV-2 virus disease outbreak has infected more than 691,000,000 people and killed more than 6,900,000. Surprisingly, Sub-Saharan Africa has suffered the least from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Factors that are inherent to developing countries and that contrast with their counterparts in developed countries have been associated with these disease burden differences. In this paper, we developed data-driven COVID-19 mathematical models of two 'extreme': Cameroon, a developing country, and New York State (NYS) located in a developed country. We then identified critical parameters that could be used to explain the lower-than-expected COVID-19 disease burden in Cameroon versus NYS and to help mitigate future major disease outbreaks. Through the introduction of a 'disease burden' function, we found that COVID-19 could have been much more severe in Cameroon than in NYS if the vaccination rate had remained very low in Cameroon and the pandemic had not ended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes towards deciphering and decoding the misery of the urban poor in light of the COVID-19 scourge. The paper unpacks urban poverty in light of the corona virus. The emergence of the COVID-19 and the lack of any vaccines requires physical distancing as preventative measures to contain and reduce the spread of the virus. Governments across the world, including in Anglophone Sub Saharan Africa have implemented lockdown measures. The COVID-19 pandemic is happening within settlements where the majority of the population lives from hand to mouth. In Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa because of urbanisation and increased urban poverty, COVID-19 scourge has had a huge impact on the urban poor. The COVID-19 is likely to devastate economies and the community. For rapidly growing, densely populated and poorly planned settlements, the situation is tragic for these inhabitants. Nation states lockdown and social and physical distancing in response to the pandemic have escalated their misery. The paper adopts a critical review of literature anchored in case study analysis, document analysis and scanning from reports. Results point to redefining the way humanity has related, functioned and conceptualised realities. There is need to go beyond prevention from infection as majority of urban dwellers are in the informal sector or unemployed. For the urban poor, strategies for social distancing may not be possible or effective. People are being asked to make choices between being hungry and risk of getting infected. The paper recommends planning response at national, regional and local level bearing in mind informal settlements, high densities and forms of overcrowding which have been placed as hotspots for the virus. There is need for rebuilding societies, during and beyond COVID-19 calling for immediate disaster risk planning adaptation and transformation to promote resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals has been a considerable challenge in Africa, especially with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Africa has been struggling to deal with the repercussions of the pandemic as well as other deadly diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, diabetes, and HIV, which are widespread in all African countries. The purpose of this paper was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the vulnerable healthcare system on the African continent. The study's primary objective is to explore the impact of COVID-19 on achieving Sustainable Development 3 (Good Health and Well Being). The paper reviewed literature on health-related issues and the effects of COVID-19, including mortality rates, and correlates the findings to the Goal Setting Theory. The study utilised a qualitative research design, with the researchers using secondary data to understand how the pandemic has jeopardised the accomplishment of good health and well-being. The conclusions of the researchers were based on numerous organisation reports, scholarly articles, media articles, and internet sources. The data was evaluated using a thematic technique with all findings organised into themes. Given the negative impact of the pandemic, the researchers gave recommendations towards the African Healthcare System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence and diffusion of coronavirus (COVID-19) have brought a lot of impacts on various spheres of human endeavours including maritime trading. This paper explores the effect of the lockdown on maritime port calls for selected vessels in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) regions (East, Middle, South, and West Africa). The study utilizes port calls data of the maritime profile of the global economies obtained from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Statistics between 2018 and 2021. Data include port calls for liquid bulk carrier, liquefied petroleum gas, dry bulk carrier, dry break bulk carrier, roll-on-roll-off, and container carrier. The analysis of data involves the use of exploratory technique to reveal dimensions of performance by various carriers across the regions. The results picture the kind of response of port calls in all the regions akin to the response from other regions of the world. However, the study observes that though responses to COVID-19 lockdown across the globe were similar, SSA regions were slow in recovering from the decline in port calls when compared to the developed and some rapidly developing economies of the world due to the region's lack of economic resilience. Thus, since ports have been identified as vulnerable to economic, social, institutional, and environmental shocks, and to dynamic and highly unpredictable demand for port services, policymakers of various nationals in the SSA may need to examine the patterns of performance of vessels in the regions to manage trade flows more effectively as a way of responding to future dynamics in maritime trade in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. There has been significant progress with regards to winning the fight against HIV globally, particularly due to the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART). COVID-19 threatened to derail gains in the fight against HIV. As we have started to see with studies on COVID-19 and HIV, there is a need to "provide an in-depth view" in understanding the dynamics between the two epidemics, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. We, therefore, undertook a systemic review of existing literature to synthesize the effects of COVID-19 on the utilization of HIV services in sub-Saharan Africa, the literature on the risks associated with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic, and lastly, the innovations and strategies adopted to continue receiving treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods. We conducted a systematic review of studies published between 2020 and April 2022. We searched for relevant sub-Saharan studies in the following databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, J-STOR, and Science Direct. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search identified 647 papers, and after screening, 41 were in line with the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Results. There was evidence of the negative effects of COVID-19 on reducing HIV testing, ART treatment, and HIV prevention services. There is evidence pointing to the need for people living with HIV to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccinations. Innovations and strategies implemented to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on HIV services include community-based ART distribution, multi-month ART dispensing, the use of digital technologies, and the use of the already existing HIV infrastructure to fight COVID-19. Conclusion. It is still imperative that future studies explore the predictors of utilization of HIV services in the advent of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of COVID-19 has made it ever more onerous for the world economy to rethink the way things are done and to be done. The need and almost compulsory way of services being catered for will never have been made so practically obvious without the influence of a pandemic like COVID-19. The world at some point in time was almost brought to a standstill, with services pertaining to supply-chain deliverables, education / professional development and many more almost brought to a halt. This paper has the platform for critically assessing the pathway SSA economies (SSA) should follow, notably creativity in new technologies, while adopting a stance on ISI approach in order to reduce its reliance on the importation of essential commodities, which seem to have been a worrying concern throughout the crisis of COVID-19. Suggestions for SSA economies to embrace the notion of creative destruction is the focal point in this paper for the realization of growth and development, while at the same time harnessing the power of human integrity to champion competitive innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic (Coronavirus disease 2019) remains problematic in all its manifestations on the global stage where countless events of human-to-human exposure have led to fatal cases; thus, the aftermath being an unprecedented public health concern, with inaccessible health care and the instability of economies and financial institutions. These pose massive obstacles that can insatiably devour existing human resources causing negative impacts, especially in developing countries. Tracking the origin, dissemination and mutating strains of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) on population-wide scales is a somewhat overwhelming task, with the urgent need to map the dissemination and magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 in near real-time. This review paper focuses on the poor sanitation of some waterbodies and wastewater management policies in low-income African countries, highlighting how these contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, there has been an upsurge in scientific literature and studies concerning SARS-CoV-2 with different opinions and findings. The current paper highlights the challenges and also summarizes the environmental aspects related to the monitoring and fate of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes in the aquatic milieu of Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the impact of health and other exogenous shocks on stock markets in Africa. Particularly, the authors examined the resilience of the major stock markets in 12 African economies during the recent global pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the recent panel vector autoregressive model, which enables us to capture the response of stock markets to shocks in COVID-19, commodity markets and exchange rate. For robustness, the authors also analysed the panel Granger causality test. Data was obtained for the period ranging from 2 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. Findings: The results show that the growth in COVID-19 cases and deaths do not have any substantial impact on the stock market returns of these economies. In terms of commodity markets, the authors find that gold price has a negative contemporaneous effect on stock returns, but the effect fizzles out around the fifth day while crude oil price, on the other hand, has a significant positive simult aneous impact on stock returns and also converges around the fifth day. The authors further find that the exchange rate has a contemporaneous and nonlinear effect on stock returns and seems to be more dramatic when compared with the other variables. Overall, the results show that stock markets in Africa appear to be flexible and resilient against the COVID-19 outbreak but are affected by other exogenous shocks such as volatile commodity prices and the foreign exchange market. The effect is, however, short-lived – between one to five days. Practical implications: Following the study's findings, policies should be put in place to support financial markets by way of hedging against commodity instability and securing domestic currency financing. Policymakers are also recommended to concentrate on managing the uncertainties around their exchange rate markets and develop robust and efficient domestic financial markets to encourage local and foreign investors. Originality/value: Several studies have been carried out on the effects of disasters (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) on stock markets, but only a few studies have examined the resilience of stock markets to health and other exogenous shocks. This study's attempt is not only to examine the impact of COVID-19 health shocks on stock markets but also to analyse the resilience of the sampled stock markets. The authors also analyse the resilience of stock markets to commodity markets and exchange rates shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted essential health services, including those provided by national neglected tropical disease (NTD) programs. Most mass drug administration (MDA) programs were postponed for 6–12 months following World Health Organization guidance released in April 2020 to temporarily halt NTD programs and launch necessary COVID-19 precautions. While NTD-endemic countries have since resumed MDA activities, it is critical to understand implementers' perspectives on the key challenges and opportunities for program relaunch, as these insights are critical for maximizing gains towards disease control and elimination during public health emergencies. Using data from using online surveys and focus group discussions, this mixed-methods study sought perspectives from Ministry of Health NTD Program Managers and implementing partners from non-governmental organizations working in sub-Saharan Africa. Data analysis revealed that findings converged around several main themes: disruptions for MDA programs included resource shortages due to prioritization of pandemic response, challenges adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, and community hesitancy due to coronavirus transmission fears. Identified solutions for restarting MDA programs focused on adapting intervention delivery and packaging to minimize disease transmission, embracing technology to optimize intervention planning and delivery, and identifying opportunities to promote program integration between pandemic response strategies and NTD campaign delivery. Findings identifies key challenges due to disruptions to NTD program delivery and provide strategic recommendations for endemic countries to build resilient programs that can continue to perform during and beyond global pandemics. Author summary: In April 2020, global guidelines suspended mass drug administration (MDA) programs used in the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While the guidance aimed to reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure and transmission among stakeholders involved in MDA delivery and recipient community members, it risked impeding the gains made by MDA programs towards NTD control and elimination, leaving billions at risk of these infectious diseases. This study summarizes the perspectives of Ministry of Health NTD Program Managers and representatives from non-governmental organizations across sub-Saharan African working in NTDs regarding challenges imposed on MDA programs by the COVID-19 pandemic and identify opportunities to improve planning and implementation during the relaunch of MDA programs. Respondents noted key disruptions for MDA programs, including resource shortages, challenges adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, and community hesitancy due to coronavirus transmission fears. Specific solutions for restarting MDA programs included adaptations to MDA strategies to incorporate safer, low-contact drug delivery techniques, incorporating technology to optimize MDA planning and delivery, and identifying opportunities to promote integration between NTD campaign delivery and pandemic response strategies. This paper includes suggestions for building resilient programs that can continue to perform in the face of public health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Africa, refusal of COVID-19 and other vaccines is widespread for different reasons, including disbelief in the existence of the virus itself and faith in traditional remedies. In sub-Saharan countries, refusal is often made worse by opposition to vaccines by the religious establishments. This is a pressing problem, as Africa has the highest vaccine-avoidable mortality rate for children under the age of five in the world. Dialogue between those wishing to promote vaccines and those who resist them is essential if the situation is to be improved. This article argues that Western and other aid agencies seeking to promote vaccination programs need to develop a dialogue with resisters, and in this process to embrace and commend the ancient African philosophical tradition of Ubuntu, incorporating it into these programs as a way to overcome such entrenched resistance. The paper concludes with concrete recommendations for how to accomplish this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at estimating the economic vulnerability of developing countries to disruptions in global value chains (GVCs) due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. It uses trade in value‐added data for a sample of 12 developing countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America to assess their dependence on demand and supply from the three main hubs China, Europe and North America. Using first estimates on COVID‐19‐induced changes in final demand and production, we obtain an early projection of the GDP effect during the lockdowns that runs through trade in GVCs. Our estimates reveal that adverse demand‐side effects reduce GDP up to 5.4 per cent, and that collapsing foreign supply puts an even larger share of countries' GDP at risk. Overall, we confirm conjecture that the countries most affected are those highly integrated in GVCs (South‐East Asian countries). We argue, however, that these countries also benefit from a well‐diversified portfolio of foreign suppliers and demand destinations, possibly leading to a cushioning of economic downswing because COVID‐19 stroke major hubs at different times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to ignite a conversation on the challenges of the ongoing 'novel' surrounding the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in the Southern Africa region. The global COVID-19 pandemic started with the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It is understood that different countries, regions and territories will have different, context-specific challenges in fighting the pandemic. These will differ from country to country and therefore necessitates contextual research. By sharing African perspectives on swift action against this coronavirus, this paper is intended to appraise the nexus between the coronavirus and tourism in order to prepare tourism practitioners for the recovery strategies that will be needed to address the damages caused by the pandemic. This paper points to tourism researchers focusing on the Southern African region and possible key areas for further research as the coronavirus situation unfolds. It draws from published material and document analysis, including from academic research, media reports and social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dominant mode of transmission for the respiratory disease COVID-19 is via airborne virus-carrying aerosols. As national lockdowns are lifted and people begin to travel once again, an assessment of the risk associated with different forms of public transportation is required. This paper assesses the risk of transmission in the context of a ride-sharing motorbike taxi—a popular choice of paratransit in South and South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Fluid dynamics plays a significant role in understanding the fate of droplets ejected from a susceptible individual during a respiratory event, such as coughing. Numerical simulations are employed here using an Eulerian–Lagrangian approach for particles and the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method for the background air flow. The driver is assumed to be exhaling virus laden droplets, which are transported toward the passenger by the background flow. A single cough is simulated for particle sizes 1, 10, 50 μ m , with motorbike speeds 1 , 5 , 15 m / s. It has been shown that small and large particles pose different types of risk. Depending on the motorbike speed, large particles may deposit onto the passenger, while smaller particles travel between the riders and may be inhaled by the passenger. To reduce risk of transmission to the passenger, a shield is placed between the riders. The shield not only acts as a barrier to block particles, but also alters the flow field around the riders, pushing particles away from the passenger. The findings of this paper therefore support the addition of a shield potentially making the journey safer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of 45 Sub‐Saharan African countries over the 2000–2019 period, this paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the health effect of economic growth. Specifically, it investigates the direct effect of economic growth on child mortality as well as the indirect effect through environmental degradation. Findings from panel‐corrected standard errors, feasible generalized least squares, and Driscoll and Kraay standard errors show that economic growth has significantly decreased infant and under‐five mortality rates in Sub‐Saharan Africa. However, results from the mediation analysis reveal that, beyond its direct effect, economic growth has an indirect effect on under‐five mortality through greenhouse gas emissions. Implementing green growth policies should help minimize the indirect negative effect of economic growth on child mortality in Sub‐Saharan African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: At first less impacted than the rest of the world, African countries, including Cameroon, are also facing the spread of COVID-19. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the spread of the COVID-19 in Cameroon, one of the most affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We used the data from the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, reporting the number of confirmed cases and deaths, and analyzed the regularity of tests and confirmed cases and compared those numbers with neighboring countries. We tested different phenomenological models to model the early phase of the outbreak. Results: Since the first reported cases on the 7th of March, 18,662 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of the 24th of August, 186,243 tests have been performed, and 408 deaths have been recorded. New cases have been recorded only in 50% of the days since the first reported cases. There are considerable disparities in the reporting of daily cases, making it difficult to interpret these numbers and to model the evolution of the pandemic with the phenomenological models. Conclusion: Currently, following the finding from this study, it is challenging to predict the evolution of the pandemic and to make comparisons between countries as screening measures are so sparse. Monitoring should be performed regularly to provide a more accurate estimate of the situation and allocate healthcare resources more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines prison services and how they can be managed to uphold COVID-19 prevention etiquettes, in light of the contemporary rise in COVID-19 cases across the sub-Saharan Africa continent and the world at large. Design/methodology/approach: An extensive review of existing literature on COVID-19 was conducted to ascertain the nature of the pandemic in prisons in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings: In line with empirical observations, the paper recommends regular disinfection of prisons and correctional facilities on the sub-continent. Again, there is the need for countries to resort to alternative punitive measures other than imprisonment, to curb the issue of overcrowding in prisons. Furthermore, there is the need for national governments to build ultramodern prison facilities, which would make room for emergency situations, as well as make provision for any future rise in the number of inmates while, at the same time, meeting fundamental needs as peculiar to prisoners. Finally, medical units in prisons need to be well-equipped against contemporary rise in COVID-19 cases. Originality/value: The authors hereby declare that this submission is their handmade which has not been submitted to any other journal outlet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socio-economic crisis associated with COVID-19 is threatening progress towards attaining sustainable development goals. In this regard, global GDP is to contract in 2020 by 5.2% as against 2.8% in SSA. In addition, as the global recession is imminent, developing countries stand to accommodate about 60 million people into extreme poverty amid rising debt. However, as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, United Nations and African Union resolve to eradicate extreme poverty through aspirations for inclusive growth by 2030 and 2063, respectively. It is on this background this paper examines the impact of debt and COVID-19, as well as the effectiveness of growth inclusiveness for sustainable development in SSA. Imperatively, using a panel of 43 countries over the period 2016-2019, it is established that the level of employment increases, just as life expectancy improves, in tandem with inclusive growth. Also, the timeline analysis of the COVID-19 period reveals that the unemployment rate, as well as public debt, is increasing substantially above the levels before the outbreak; thereby portending a setback on the gains so far achieved towards sustainable development in the region. As such, total debt cancellation is suggested along with more financial assistance to economies in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Artisanal and small-scale miners are facing unprecedented challenges due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The paper adopts a practice-based approach to examine the impact of Covid-19 on gold and gemstone artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) practices in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the informality of ASM and discusses how the Ghana and Kenya governments' measures have significantly increased the vulnerabilities of the miners and mining communities. Based on a document analysis of the governments' responses to Covid-19, mining industry reports, and interviews with 29 mining stakeholders in Ghana and Kenya, the paper identifies the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on gold and gemstone ASM in both countries. We highlight the key policy challenges and suggest actions that can help mitigate the negative impacts the pandemic has had on ASM, which include the need to address informality in the ASM sub-sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: COVID-19 is a transmissible illness triggered by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since its onset in late 2019 in Wuhan city of China, it continues to spread universally, leading to an ongoing pandemic that shattered all efforts to restrain it. On the other hand, in Africa, the COVID-19 infection may be influenced by malaria coinfection. Hence, in this review article, we aimed to give a comprehensive account of the similarities between COVID-19 and malaria in terms of symptoms, clinical, immunological, and molecular perspectives. Methodology: In this article, we reviewed over 50 research papers to highlight the multilayered similarities between COVID-19 and malaria infections that might influence the ontology of COVID-19. Results: Despite the poor health and fragile medical system of many sub-Saharan African countries, they persisted with a statistically significantly low number of COVID-19 cases. This was attributed to many factors such as the young population age, the warm weather, the lack of proper diagnosis, previous infection with malaria, the use of antimalarial drugs, etc. Additionally, population genetics appears to play a significant role in shaping the COVID-19 dynamics. This is evident as recent genomic screening analyses of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and malaria-associatedvariants identified 6 candidate genes that might play a role in malaria and COVID-19 incidence and severity. Moreover, the clinical and pathological resemblances between the two diseases have made considerable confusion in the diagnosis and thereafter curb the disease in Africa. Therefore, possible similarities between the diseases in regards to the clinical, pathological, immunological, and genetical ascription were discussed. Conclusion: Understanding the dynamics of COVID-19 infection in Sub-Saharan Africa and how it is shaped by another endemic disease like malaria can provide insights into how to tailor a successful diagnostic, intervention, and control plans that lower both disease morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID 19 and other global pandemics readily shows the importance of ethno-cultural channels of communication. However, modern discourses on medical referrals have narrowly focused their attention on the diverse challenges of referral services in biomedical establishments, but have generally ignored the cultural mechanics and religious dynamism in the contemporary operations of ethno-medical referrals in sub-Saharan Africa. Departing from these studies, the present paper underscores the active networks of referrals in African healing shrines that appropriate the diverse resources and expertise of different healing spaces in their treatments of sick clients. Using an ethnographical approach, the paper investigates the mechanics of ethno-medical referrals from the perspectives of more than 250 sick clients in African healing shrines, over 50 practitioners in ethno-medical shrines, several doctors and nurses, and church workers/Christian healers in Nigeria and Ghana respectively. The findings of this research suggest that there are lively networks of referrals between African healing shrines, hospitals, and Christian healing/prayerhouses, which dramatically turned these diverse healing spaces into an animated transborder space of creative negotiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increase in nonofficial cross-border capital flows to sub-Saharan Africa following the 2007/2008 global financial crisis, the region is still receiving a limited amount of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) compared to other developing markets. This paper seeks to explore the factors explaining sub-Saharan Africa's lack of FPI and what measures could be implemented to encourage FPI in the region. The key takeaways of this paper are: • Tax structures have been identified as one of the key impediments to FPI in Southern Africa. Although various sub-Saharan jurisdictions exempt capital gains on the disposal of listed shares from tax, significant withholding taxes are generally levied on dividend and interest payments to foreign investors. • Mauritius, a popular hub for African investment, has recently been under the spotlight with a number of sub-Saharan African jurisdictions terminating or amending their tax treaties with the country or introducing domestic antiavoidance measures to combat perceived treaty shopping. This is expected to have a negative impact on investment flows through Mauritius. In addition, coronavirus disease-19 relief measures introduced by sub-Saharan authorities focus on safeguarding local businesses and foreign direct investment rather than FPI. • The quality of governance is also a significant factor in attracting net portfolio inflows, and there is a clear need in sub-Saharan Africa for simple, efficient tax systems and appropriate tax incentives to support investor-friendly policies and encourage and stimulate FPI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is facing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, which is disrupting lives and livelihoods. The pandemic could profoundly affect the African continent and wipe out hard-won development gains, as sub-Saharan Africa heads into its first recession in 25 years. Beyond the multispatial impact of the coronavirus in Africa, its effects on the agriculture and food system is of particular interest, as food security could be the most affected area and, at the same time, agriculture could be the sector that could help African economies recover quicker from the impact of COVID-19. This paper supports the view that COVID-19, as devilish as it may be, offers an opportunity to revive interest in the agricultural sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed immense pressures on African countries to raise additional resources, and consequently Africa's growing public debt is again coming back to the centre stage of the global debate. The conversation on African debt sustainability has begun to dominate the scene and will flood the debate in the near term. While the observed, growing calls for debt relief for African countries are legitimate, we support in this paper that one should not divert attention from the long-term solutions needed to strengthen Africa's resilience. These long-term solutions lie where they always have: in agriculture. With COVID-19, shipping agricultural inputs and food products from other continents to Africa has become disrupted and is accelerating the trend towards shortening supply chains. This will leave a potential market for inputs and food produced on the continent. COVID-19, together with the launching of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), have aligned the stars in favour of a decisive transformation of the agriculture sector on the continent. Agriculturalists and development experts need to be aware of their responsibility at this time, as they need to advocate for the topic of agricultural development to return to the centre and the heart of the agenda of discussions on how to respond to the consequences of Covid-19 in Africa. In this sense, and unexpectedly, COVID-19 is an opportunity for the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective to reduce global health inequalities and inequities is integral to the global development agenda, from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the sustainable development goals and the ongoing response to coronavirus disease. Yet, summary measures of global health gains or of the cost-effectiveness of global health programmes barely capture how well they improve the lives of the most disadvantaged populations. This paper instead explores the distribution of global health gains across countries and the implications for health inequality and inequity (here referring to health disadvantages that reinforce economic disadvantage, and vice versa) across countries. Specifically, it studies the distribution of gains in life expectancy across countries (overall and owing to reduced mortality from HIV, TB and malaria), using the Gini index and a concentration index ranking countries by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita as indicators of health inequality and inequity. By these counts, global inequality in life expectancy across countries declined by one-third between 2002 and 2019. Reduced mortality from HIV, TB and malaria accounted for one‐half of this decline. Fifteen countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, containing 5% of the global population, accounted for 40% of the global decline in inequality, with nearly six‐tenth of this contribution coming from HIV, TB and malaria. Inequity in life expectancy across countries declined by nearly 37%, with a contribution from HIV, TB and malaria of 39% of this gain. Our findings show how simple indicators on the distribution of health gains across countries usefully complement aggregate measures of global health gains and underscore their positive contribution to the global development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic underlines the importance of geography and geographical analysis to tourism scholarship. This paper utilises a spatial approach to examine the impacts of the pandemic on tourism flows and examine the comparative performance of coastal tourism destinations in COVID-times. The case research is on South Africa one of the worst-hit countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the pandemic. Existing international literature points to a geographical change in consumer preferences for coastal destinations with reduced flows to traditional mass coastal destinations. The South African findings demonstrate the highly negative effects of the pandemic upon coastal tourism as a whole with the largest coastal cities experiencing the worst impacts. COVID-19 has caused a reversal of trends recorded for the past two decades for the benefits of coastal tourism to be concentrated in South Africa's large coastal cities. Instead, it has resulted in the relative improvement of smaller coastal centres and in particular of centres which are relatively well-located for access to the domestic markets offered by large cities. These South African findings signal potential shifts in consumer psyche and travel behaviour as an outcome of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose and analyse a compartmental model of COVID-19 to predict and control the outbreak. We first formulate a comprehensive mathematical model for the dynamical transmission of COVID-19 in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. We provide the basic properties of the model and compute the basic reproduction number |$\mathcal {R}_0$| when the parameter values are constant. After, assuming continuous measurement of the weekly number of newly COVID-19 detected cases, newly deceased individuals and newly recovered individuals, the Ensemble of Kalman filter (EnKf) approach is used to estimate the unmeasured variables and unknown parameters, which are assumed to be time-dependent using real data of COVID-19. We calibrated the proposed model to fit the weekly data in Cameroon and Gabon before, during and after the lockdown. We present the forecasts of the current pandemic in these countries using the estimated parameter values and the estimated variables as initial conditions. During the estimation period, our findings suggest that |$\mathcal {R}_0 \approx 1.8377 $| in Cameroon, while |$\mathcal {R}_0 \approx 1.0379$| in Gabon meaning that the disease will not die out without any control measures in theses countries. Also, the number of undetected cases remains high in both countries, which could be the source of the new wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Short-term predictions firstly show that one can use the EnKf to predict the COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa and that the second vague of the COVID-19 pandemic will still increase in the future in Gabon and in Cameroon. A comparison between the basic reproduction number from human individuals |$\mathcal {R}_{0h}$| and from the SARS-CoV-2 in the environment |$\mathcal {R}_{0v}$| has been done in Cameroon and Gabon. A comparative study during the estimation period shows that the transmissions from the free SARS-CoV-2 in the environment is greater than that from the infected individuals in Cameroon with |$\mathcal {R}_{0h}$| = 0.05721 and |$\mathcal {R}_{0v}$| = 1.78051. This imply that Cameroonian apply distancing measures between individual more than with the free SARS-CoV-2 in the environment. But, the opposite is observed in Gabon with |$\mathcal {R}_{0h}$| = 0.63899 and |$\mathcal {R}_{0v}$| = 0.39894. So, it is important to increase the awareness campaigns to reduce contacts from individual to individual in Gabon. However, long-term predictions reveal that the COVID-19 detected cases will play an important role in the spread of the disease. Further, we found that there is a necessity to increase timely the surveillance by using an awareness program and a detection process, and the eradication of the pandemic is highly dependent on the control measures taken by each government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has created urgent demand for timely data, leading to a surge in mobile phone surveys for tracking the impacts of and responses to the pandemic. Using data from national phone surveys implemented in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda during the pandemic and the pre-COVID-19 national face-to-face surveys that served as the sampling frames for the phone surveys, this paper documents selection the biases in individual-level analyses based on phone survey data. In most cases, individual-level data are available only for phone survey respondents, who we find are more likely to be household heads or their spouses and non-farm enterprise owners, and on average, are older and better educated vis-a-vis the general adult population. These differences are the result of uneven access to mobile phones in the population and the way that phone survey respondents are selected. To improve the representativeness of individual-level analysis using phone survey data, we recalibrate the phone survey sampling weights based on propensity score adjustments that are derived from a model of an individual's likelihood of being interviewed as a function of individual- and household-level attributes. We find that reweighting improves the representativeness of the estimates for phone survey respondents, moving them closer to those of the general adult population. This holds for both women and men and for a range of demographic, education, and labor market outcomes. However, reweighting increases the variance of the estimates and, in most cases, fails to overcome selection biases. This indicates limitations to deriving representative individual-level estimates from phone survey data. Obtaining reliable data on men and women through future phone surveys will require random selection of adult interviewees within sampled households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic brought in its wake an unforeseen mental health crisis. The World Health Organization published a guideline as a way of supporting mental health and psychosocial well-being of different groups during this pandemic. The impact of the pandemic has pushed governments to put measures in place to curb not only the physical health of individuals but their mental health and psychosocial well-being as well. The aim of our paper was to review mental health guidelines of some Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries: (i) to assess their appropriateness for the immediate mental health needs at this time, (ii) to form as a basis for ongoing reflection as the current pandemic evolves. Guidelines were retrieved openly from internet search and some were requested from mental health practitioners in various SSA countries. The authors designed a semi structured questionnaire, as a self-interview guide to gain insight on the experience of COVID-19 from experts in the mental health sector in the various countries. While we used a document analysis approach to analyze the data, we made use of the Mental Health Preparedness and Action Framework to discuss our findings. We received health or mental health guidelines from 10 SSA countries. Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda all had mental health guidelines or mental health component in their health guidelines. Our experts highlight that the mental health needs of the people are of concern during this pandemic but have not been given priority. They go further to suggest that the mental health needs are slightly different during this time and requiring a different approach especially considering the measures taken to curb the spread of disease. We conclude that despite the provision of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support guidelines, gaps still exist making them inadequate to meet the mental health needs of their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in rural, often difficult-to-access areas, poorly served by national health services. Here, we review the contributions of 4.8 million community-directed distributors (CDDs) of medicines over 2 decades in 146,000 communities in 27 sub-Saharan African countries to control or eliminate onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF). We examine their role in the control of other NTDs, malaria, HIV/AIDS interventions, immunisation campaigns, and support to overstretched health service personnel. We are of the opinion that CDDs as community selected, trained, and experienced "foot soldiers," some of whom were involved in the Ebola outbreak responses at the community level in Liberia, if retrained, can assist community leaders and support health workers (HWs) in the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The review highlights the improved treatment coverage where there are women CDDs, the benefits and lessons from the work of CDDs, their long-term engagement, and the challenges they face in healthcare delivery. It underscores the value of utilising the CDD model for strong community engagement and recommends the model, with some review, to hasten the achievement of the NTD 2030 goal and assist the health system cope with evolving epidemics and other challenges. We propose that, based on the unprecedented progress made in the control of NTDs directly linked to community engagement and contributions of CDDs "foot soldiers," they deserve regional and global recognition. We also suggest that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international stakeholders promote policy and guidance for countries to adapt this model for the elimination of NTDs and to strengthen national health services. This will enhance the accomplishment of some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa. Author summary: Community-directed distributors (CDDs), sometimes known as community health workers (CHWs), have proved to be critical in the delivery of medicines and other tools for the control of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), prevention of malaria, and other beneficial health interventions. The distributors are the unsung heroes and heroines without whom the health of hundreds of thousands of communities in rural Africa would be worse than it is today. In this paper, we document more than 2 decades (1997–2019) of the contributions of 146,000 communities and 4.8 million CDDs of medicines for NTDs, unpaid or minimally compensated, some have provided 18 years of uninterrupted service. We report on the burden of work and their perspectives of the challenges involved in mass drug administration (MDA) across 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We suggest that they have not been adequately recognised and that harnessing such community human resources could contribute to improving health system's responses to the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. We recommend policy measures for a wider application of existing networks of CDDs by countries' health systems to consolidate and accelerate the achievements made as well as for the attainment of the goals set forth in the newly developed World Health Organization (WHO) NTD Roadmap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After an initial delay, Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) is being hit by the pandemic. Demand for exports is falling and caseloads are rising. Governments have approached this crisis with a range of policy options. Optimal policy balances reduced infection rates with lost economic output. This paper discusses how an economic‐epidemiological model used to analyze policy in high‐income countries could be adapted to a context where poverty considerations are paramount. Differences in country characteristics across the continent affect benefits and costs of alternative policy designs. We conclude by highlighting data needs and model calibration challenges for COVID‐19 policy research in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developing world has experienced unprecedented effects of the Covid‐19 pandemic. The devastating effects of this major crisis are felt in all possible spheres of the developing world and with a serious impact on social and economic development in developing countries. The spread of Covid‐19, which has brought the world to a near standstill, has given rise to the question on the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic. The special issue on Covid‐19 at JID aims to bring together contemporary research on several aspects of how the devastating effects of the pandemic have panned out in different spheres of life, particularly, in the developing world. This special issue has 10 papers with a particular emphasis on evidence of the impact of the Covid‐19 pandemic in Sub‐Saharan Africa and South America. The volume documents studies on the effects of the pandemic at the macro‐level, for economy wide effects, the impact of the pandemic on firms and on its effects on households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the response of rural Ugandan households to a large aggregate shock, the Covid-19 pandemic, during and one year after the first lockdown in March 2020. Using 6 rounds of phone surveys from 558 households in western Uganda, we find that household income recovery from the lockdown differs by whether households had a business pre-pandemic. After an initial sharp fall, the incomes of those without a business have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. However, the relatively better-off households with a business before the pandemic still have one-third lower income, due to sustained closure of businesses even after the end of the first lockdown restrictions. Additionally, business-owning households have 30% lower wealth one-year into the pandemic, driven by 44% lower assets, 45% drop in savings, and a 15 fold increase in net-borrowing, suggesting long-term damage. Our findings point to the need to support households who face dwindling finances to fall back on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper assesses the possibility of using debt relief funds to sustain HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, suppress transmission, and reach global goals to quell the epidemic by 2030. The cost of providing antiretroviral treatment is a huge burden on African countries. Concerns for Africa's capacity to keep pace with global advances are well founded. By analysing levels of 'debt distress', health expenditure per capita, and HIV antiretroviral therapy requirements in sub-Saharan African countries, the need for innovative finance with international cooperation emerges clearly. In addition to the HIV epidemic, African countries may become more vulnerable to disasters and other public health diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola and COVID-19, especially without alternatives to current means of financing. Relief from debt service payments could release funds for sub-Saharan African countries to support universal HIV antiretroviral treatment with sustainable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused a significant number of deaths worldwide. If the prevalence of the infection continues to grow, this could impact life expectancy. This paper provides first estimates of the potential direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on period life expectancy. Methods: From the estimates of bias-adjusted age-specific infection fatality rates in Hubei (China) and a range of six prevalence rate assumptions ranging from 1% to 70%, we built a discrete-time microsimulation model that simulates the number of people infected by COVID-19, the number dying from it, and the number of deaths from all causes week by week for a period of one year. We applied our simulation to four broad regions: North America and Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; Southeastern Asia; and sub-Saharan African. For each region, 100,000 individuals per each 5-year age group are simulated. Results: At a 10% COVID-19 prevalence rate, the loss in life expectancy at birth is likely above 1 year in North America and Europe and in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Southeastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, one year lost in life expectancy corresponds to an infection prevalence of about 15% and 25%, respectively. Given the uncertainty in fatality rates, with a 50% prevalence of COVID-19 infections under 95% prediction intervals, life expectancy would drop by 3 to 9 years in North America and Europe, by 3 to 8 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, by 2 to 7 years in Southeastern Asia, and by 1 to 4 years in sub-Saharan Africa. In all prevalence scenarios, as long as the COVID-19 infection prevalence rate remains below 1 or 2%, COVID-19 would not affect life expectancy in a substantial manner. Interpretation: In regions with relatively high life expectancy, if the infection prevalence threshold exceeds 1 or 2%, the COVID-19 pandemic will break the secular trend of increasing life expectancy, resulting in a decline in period life expectancy. With life expectancy being a key indicator of human development, mortality increase, especially among the vulnerable subgroups of populations, would set a country back on its path of human development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic is ripping around most of the world, but not in Africa; at least, not yet. At the same time, the policy response is remarkably uniform: most of sub-Saharan Africa went into lockdown from the second week in March. What happens next for the pandemic across Africa is uncertain, but the March lockdowns are unlikely to have contained the epidemic by themselves. What is clear is that the combination of domestic lockdowns and the spill-over from the global recession means immediate and severe hardship. This paper looks beyond the public health aspects of the pandemic to examine the medium-term macroeconomic adjustment challenge confronting domestic policy-makers and international donors. We combine epidemiological and macroeconomic models to calibrate the scale of the combined shock to a representative low-income African economy and to show how alternative policy options for slowing transmission of COVID-19 impact on public revenue, and on GDP in the short run, and hence shape the path to recovery. Noting that the first lockdown, however costly, does not by itself eliminate the likelihood of a re-emergence of the epidemic, we then frame the agenda for key macroeconomic and public finance policies to sustain recovery, growth, and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa. The initial hit to consumption will be up to one-third. All the public policy options are grim. International donor finance of US$40–50 billion, together with domestic reform to accelerate recovery, would make a significant difference to the outlook for poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions in education. School closures quickly followed the onset of the pandemic to contain the spread of the virus, forcing millions of students out of their regular academic calendars. Countries put in place interventions aimed to reduce the deleterious effects of school closures and disruptions in learning. For instance, many countries used various mediums to provide students with distance learning. This scoping review examines the interventions that education systems in low- and middle-income Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries (LMIC) implemented to mitigate learning loss in reading and writing skills among early grade learners (i.e., children attending primary schools) and discusses the reach of those programs. This review highlights the proportion of students reached by the targeted mitigation measures, revealing that LMIC countries in SSA provided students with remote learning opportunities through radio and television programming, provided teachers with professional development on the use of novel tools, and provided parents and families with support to help learners at home. However, these disruptions affected the traditional assessment methods. Various assessment methods were implemented to measure student progress, but there is a need for appropriate progress monitoring tools and accurate data to measure the effectiveness of the interventions. Many LMIC implemented Return-to-School policy frameworks, processes, and principles that ensured safe learning continuity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 and its prevention measures have had a significant impact on patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by disrupting routine healthcare service and increasing risk factors. These challenges were expected to be more severe in sub-Saharan Africa due to the lack of physical infrastructure and inadequate resources. The quantity of studies conducted was limited, and there was a lack of published systematic reviews in the specified region. This systematic review aimed to assess the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures on individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan African countries. Method: This systematic review adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines and is registered with PROSPERO (ID CRD42023387755). Extensive searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases in December 2023, supplemented by a manual search of references, grey literature, and the WHO COVID-19 database. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies that reported on the impact of COVID-19 on NCD patients in sub-Saharan African countries, focusing on access to care, health outcomes, and factors related to NCDs. Critical appraisal of study quality was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) analytical cross-sectional studies critical appraisal tool. Data were extracted and synthesized, highlighting the main findings and relevant limitations. Findings: This review included 30 primary studies with a cumulative sample size of 25634 participants, conducted in seven sub-Saharan African countries. These studies demonstrated that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted regular NCD patient care provision, with regional variations. The studies also identified a reduction in patient health-seeking behavior and reduced medication adherence, leading to poor treatment outcome. Furthermore, the pandemic and related lockdowns have been implicated in the increased prevalence of substance use, decreased physical exercise, and increased mental health problems. Conclusion: This systematic review identified the complex challenges faced by NCD patients in sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also underlines the need to consider the indirect impact on vulnerable populations while developing pandemic prevention and control strategies for the future. The current NCD management strategies should prioritize the restoration of access to essential healthcare services while considering the multifaceted risks posed by decreased physical activity, poor dietary practices, and increased substance use. The main limitation of this review was the study design and setting. All of the studies included in this review employed a cross-sectional design, which may result in a low quality of evidence. This study identified research conducted in only seven countries among the 46 UN-classified sub-Saharan nations, which may impair the generalizability of the result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the emergency remote teaching experiences of Ghanaian teacher educators during COVID-19. The study employed a basic qualitative interpretive approach and purposively interviewed 25 teacher educators from 15 teacher training institutions. Teacher educators in this study reported that emergency remote teaching (ERT) was a learning opportunity and professional capacity-building experience for them to engage in contemporary pedagogical practices. Teachers also indicated that synchronous and asynchronous remote teaching was helpful for their students, as it provided students with the opportunity to engage in self-paced learning due to their access to learning resources at any time. ERT promoted peer teaching, team teaching, and effective collaboration among teacher educators. However, with little preparation and training for remote teaching and learning, both teachers and students struggled with the remote teaching and learning process. A myriad of challenges were identified including the unsuitability and unfamiliarity of online teaching and learning platforms, a high rate of absenteeism and low student engagement, a lack of parental and school support, and inadequate technological resources. The study revealed that mathematics and science teachers needed advanced technological resources to support student learning. Implications for educational policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic, movement restrictions were implemented across sub-Saharan Africa. There has been much speculation on what the long-term impacts on urban transport might be. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to identify the revealed and future travel impacts of the pandemic. Method: To pursue this aim, evidence was compiled from two sources: secondary big data; and a (n = 15) two-wave Delphi panel survey of experts in the region. Results: It is predicted that longer-term impacts will take the form of: reduced travel by, and accessibility for, low-income households residing in peripheral locations because of decreased welfare; reduced transport service availability; operator reduction (particularly amongst unsubsidised formal operators); increased remote activity participation for a minority of better resourced households with white-collar workers; and disrupted trip distributions as the mix of city-centre land use changes in response to business attrition in economic recession rather than to disrupted bid rents. Conclusion: The major impact of the pandemic is likely to be on welfare, rather than on trip substitution. There is a need, therefore, to focus policy on the mitigation of these impacts and, more particularly, on ways of measuring changes in transport disadvantage and exclusion so that reliable data are available to inform mitigation strategies. The mitigation strategies considered should include investment in affordable 'digital connectivity' as a means of complementing accessibility from physical proximity and mobility. The pandemic also highlights the need to develop more robust transport planning practices to deal with uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite modest efforts to study and document the complications that arise after acute treatment of patients with coronavirus disease, its ramifications and regional variations are yet to be clearly understood. Progress in sub-Saharan Africa, notably Nigeria, has been impeded by patient disengagement from care and insufficient or non-existent follow-up arrangements. The aim of this study was to describe the barriers and enablers for follow-up services after discharge from COVID-19 care pathway in Nigeria. Methods: Seventeen experts involved directly in the care of patients with COVID-19 participated in brainstorming using the nominal group technique during a national workshop to review the new guidelines for COVID-19 case management in Nigeria. Participants discussed the barriers and facilitators of post-acute care follow-up of patients discharged from COVID-19 pathway and ranked their recommendations to arrive at three major factors per question. Results: Participants were mostly middle aged and predominantly clinicians. The top three barriers were patients' perception of their symptom severity, lack of organizational clarity/structure/policies on follow-up care after discharge, and financial constraints. Similarly, participants identified providers' initiated education on the reasons for follow-up at discharge, written organizational policies/structure and clarity and free follow-up services as the top three facilitators. Conclusion: This study has enumerated barriers to follow-up care after discharge patients with coronavirus disease and highlighted providers, institutional and governmental responses that will facilitator follow-up care after discharge of patients with COVID-19. The implication is that, there is need for clear institutional guidelines for tracking and documenting post-COVID condition. In the future, it would be necessary to assess the achievements and shortcomings of post-COVID condition tracking in Nigeria through the use of implementation science outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The use of antigen rapid tests (Ag-RDTs) for self-testing is an important element of the COVID-19 control strategy and has been widely supported. However, scale-up of self-testing for COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa is still insufficient and there is limited evidence on the acceptability of self-testing and agreement between Ag-RDT self-testing and Ag-RDT testing by professional users. A joint collaboration (Botnar Research Centre for Child Health-European & Developing countries Clinical Trials Partnership)was established between Lesotho and Zambia to address these gaps in relation to Ag-RDT self-testing and contribute to increasing its use in the region. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Firstly, 14 in-depth cognitive interviews (5 in Zambia and 9 in Lesotho) were performed to assess the participants' understanding of the instructions for use (IFU) for self-testing. In a second step, evaluation of test agreement between Ag-RDT self-testing and Ag-RDT testing by professional user using SD Biosensor STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag-RDT was performed. In Zambia, usability and acceptability of self-testing were also assessed. Results: Cognitive interviews in Lesotho and Zambia showed overall good understanding of IFU. In Zambia, acceptability of self-testing was high, though some participants had difficulties in conducting certain steps in the IFU correctly. Agreement between Ag-RDT self-test and Ag-RDT by professional users in Lesotho (428 participants) and Zambia (1136 participants) was high, 97.3% (403/414, 95% CI: 95.3–98.7) and 99.8% (1116/1118, 95% CI: 99.4–100) respectively. Conclusion: Findings from this study support the use of Ag-RDT self-testing within COVID-19 control strategies in sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to increase the testing capacity and access in hard-to reach settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Morbidity and mortality in children due to COVID-19 remained low • Adolescents had higher reported cases than younger children • Reported cases were lower in pediatric population than adult population • Testing protocols vary between countries; reflects bias in reported cases Few data on the COVID-19 epidemiological characteristics among the pediatric population in Africa exists. This paper examines the age and sex distribution of the morbidity and mortality rate in children with COVID-19 and compares it to the adult population in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries. A merge line listing dataset shared by countries within the Regional Office for Africa was analyzed. Patients diagnosed within 1 March and 1 September 2020 with a confirmed positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed. Children's data were stratified into three age groups: 0-4 years, 5-11 years, and 12-17 years, while adults were combined. The cumulative incidence of cases, its medians, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. 9% of the total confirmed cases and 2.4% of the reported deaths were pediatric cases. The 12-17 age group in all 15 countries showed the highest cumulative incidence proportion in children. Adults had a higher case incidence per 100,000 people than children. The cases and deaths within the children's population were smaller than the adult population. These differences may reflect biases in COVID-19 testing protocols and reporting implemented by countries, highlighting the need for more extensive investigation and focus on the effects of COVID-19 in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) on poverty, food insecurity, and diets, accounting for the complex links between the crisis and the incomes and living costs of vulnerable households. Key elements are impacts on labor supply, effects of social distancing, shifts in demand from services involving close contact, increases in the cost of logistics in food and other supply chains, and reductions in savings and investment. These are examined using IFPRI's global general equilibrium model linked to epidemiological and household models. The simulations suggest that the global recession caused by COVID‐19 will be much deeper than that of the 2008–2009 financial crisis. The increases in poverty are concentrated in South Asia and sub‐Saharan Africa with impacts harder in urban areas than in rural. The COVID‐19‐related lockdown measures explain most of the fall in output, whereas declines in savings soften the adverse impacts on food consumption. Almost 150 million people are projected to fall into extreme poverty and food insecurity. Decomposition of the results shows that approaches assuming uniform income shocks would underestimate the impact by as much as one‐third, emphasizing the need for the more refined approach of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]