Feature Stories

By foot, boat and bicycle, thousands of volunteer vaccinators in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) go to extraordinary efforts, sometimes at personal risk, to help eradicate polio.

After the World Health Assembly passed a resolution to eradicate polio worldwide in 1988, the Global Certification Commission led the way in establishing a formal process for certifying regions polio-free, asking each of the six WHO regions to set up a Regional Certification Commission. 

When Dr Mark Anthony makes his weekly rounds in Kaduna state, from public hospitals to private facilities, he is encouraged to see health workers protecting themselves, attending to patients with the right protective gear and performing the necessary hand hygiene. It gives him hope that the battle against COVID-19 will be won in his country.

Shortly after Zambia reported its first cases of COVID-19 in March 2020, the country’s National Public Health Institute launched intensive, targeted screenings for cases in high-risk populations and locations. In Nakonde, a town on the border with Tanzania, the screenings revealed a huge number of infections.

In many countries, tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has taken cues from other disease approaches, such as lessons from protecting communities against Ebola. But in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, health workers have found inspiration from guarding against the coronavirus.

“We are pleased to inform you that after the recent COVID-19 test conducted, your results came out negative,” read a text message to Benedict Abbey. “Please do well to continue to strictly adhere to the precautionary protocols and we will get through this healthy and safe.”

Accra – Evelyn Narki Dowuona bears a great responsibility at Ga East Municipal Hospital in the Ghanaian capital Accra, where, as in much of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the risks of health care work. Drawing on more than 10 years of nursing experience, the quality and safety manager ensures that measures to curb infection are strictly observed.

“We want to cause no harm to the patients while giving them care. We also want to ensure that our staff are safe in their working environment,” she says.

Hesitancy to get tested, avoiding contact tracers or wariness of what the neighbours will say: the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a variety of reactions among some Ouagadougou residents that have complicated timely response.

A backpack containing simple but essential medicines and supplies is all Antoinette Nuselie Segla, principal community health nurse, needs to embark on a health outreach in Fadama, a populous community in the north of Ghana’s capital, Accra.

By the time the public health officials reached a Maasai community not far from Nairobi, Julius Oloiboni had already mobilized everyone to protect themselves and others against COVID-19.