The pandemic has amplified the fragility of Africa’s health system. It has put both the public and private facilities under increased pressure. For facility owners, the past year has been one of fluctuating patient visits, increased expenditure on protective equipment, and healthcare staff shortages. This ‘cash crunch’ has forced some facilities to scale down their general health services and some had to close their doors.

Many Africans, including pregnant women, postponed health visits out of fear of infection while their health conditions worsened. Standard services like maternal and childcare, malaria care and antiretroviral treatment for HIV and TB management are under significant pressure. For those who contract COVID-19, there is hardly any support, neither counseling nor physical support to remain in quarantine. Facilities lack supplies for adequate (self-) protection, hygiene, and patient treatment.

But the COVID-19 pandemic is much more than a health crisis. The African governments’ measures to control the virus have resulted in one of the worst global economic shocks on the continent in history, with the risk of reversing the hard-won achievements of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Vaccines for Africa are still in the development phase and the COVAX initiative has covered vaccine expenditures for only 0.6 of the population.

We have observed that whilst the pandemic has delayed many development initiatives around the world, it has inadvertently created an opportunity to scale up digital innovation to deliver universal health coverage (UHC) both for the public and private sector. PharmAccess is leveraging innovative digital health interventions to respond to the crisis. Read about our COVID-19 response below.