The Covid-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAFA) says it is working towards raising up to $100 million to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to community health workers in as many as 24 African countries for approximately one year.

Development Diaries learnt that CAFA, in a statement, said it was working with ministries of health to meet the essential PPE needs of up to one million community health workers serving over 400 million people in Africa.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity and former Rwandan health minister, Agnes Binagwaho, said, ‘This is a valiant and essential effort to mobilise PPE to protect our frontline heroes – community health workers.

‘By preventing the spread of disease across their communities while ensuring the continuum of primary care, community health workers play a central role in all epidemics, especially Covid-19. As such, it is essential that we, as a global community, ensure they are respected, supported, and protected’.

It was noted that CAFA has purchased an initial 25 million surgical masks, 35 million gloves, 822,000 face shields and 974,000 isolation gowns for the initiative and is transporting the PPE to the ports of entry in each of the African countries where local CAFA partners will deliver the supplies to the community health workers in collaboration with health ministries.

The current drop in access to PPE in Africa has already been followed by a 203 percent increase in Covid-19 infections among health workers.

Source: CISION PR News Wire