Rockefeller Foundation has boosted the work of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) with a grant of $12 million.

The grant, according to the foundation, is aimed at expanding the geographic coverage of testing and strengthening of contact tracing for Covid-19 in Africa.

It will also support a broader effort to accelerate equitable access to testing technologies, increase testing of asymptomatic persons, and reduce community transmission of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.

Testing and tracing remain two of the strongest public health interventions for containing Covid-19 Africa, which houses about 1.3 billion people.

But only a little above 30 million tests have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic.

Health authorities in Africa believe by scaling up testing and tracing, they will have access to more reliable epidemiologic data to advise governments, businesses and the public on how to better manage the pandemic and mitigate its socioeconomic impact.

‘Equitable access to testing and tracing is essential to rapidly identify and respond to Covid-19 outbreaks until a vaccine is widely available to all’, Rockefeller Foundation President, Rajiv Shah, said in a statement.

‘One year into the Covid-19 pandemic, too many people still do not have access to the tools that they need to keep themselves, their families, and their communities healthy and safe.

‘We are pleased to work with the Africa Public Health Foundation and Africa CDC to catalyse a more efficient and inclusive response to and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic across the continent’.

For his part, the Director of Africa CDC, Dr John Nkengasong, said testin was the number one tool to fight Covid-19.

‘We also need to trace people who are infected, isolate them and treat them. By supporting African Union member states to do more testing and tracing to identify and isolate infected persons, we will be able to control the virus and limit transmission’, he said.

Africa has surpassed three million confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, with more than 1.2 million in South Africa.

Africa seeks to vaccinate about 780 million people, representing some 60 percent of its population of 1.3 billion.

According to the Africa CDC, 1.5 billion doses are needed, assuming two doses per person, estimating the effort will cost some $10 billion.

Source: Rockefeller Foundation

Photo source: Africa CDC