Antiviral and antiretroviral drug shortages amidst COVID-19: How Africa is struggling.

Antiviral drugs are of paramount importance in the accomplishment of the vision of zero new cases of COVID-19 globally, through sustainable retaliation against viral diseases. However, several challenges currently exist in Africa which include insufficient infrastructure, deteriorating health systems, and rising costs of healthcare delivery with concomitant rising inequity with regards to access to health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic itself has stimulated an increased use of phytotherapy in Africa as a result of essential drug shortages that have been attributed to a plethora of contributing factors such as travel restrictions, reduced per capita income as well as increased expenditure on transport. As a result, the paucity of antiviral along with antiretroviral drugs used to combat COVID-19 as well as several other endemic viral diseases in Africa has created a worrisome state. This article therefore discusses and aims to underscore the causes, effects, and implications of antiviral and antiretroviral shortages amid COVID-19 in Africa.

COVID-19, measles, and yellow fever: The need to reinforce vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The immunization programs have been jeopardized all over the world due to the stay-at-home constraints imposed, to mitigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This has directly or indirectly placed the global health care system in peril, resulting in an overlapping public health crisis. With this commentary, we aim to accentuate the need to reinforce vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in lieu of the intersecting COVID-19, measles, and yellow fever outbreak, besides, providing recommendations so as to help alleviate the situation.

Viral infections amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and recommendations.

Viral infections have been on the rise for the past decades. The impact of the viruses worsened amidst the pandemic burdening the already overwhelmed health care system in African countries. This article sheds light on how the coronavirus together with the already existing viral infections, some of which re-emerged, impacted the continent. The strategies in place such as immunization, education, will have to be strengthened in all African countries to reduce the burden. Furthermore, governments can further collaborate with other countries in creating guidelines to reduce co-infection of the diseases.

HIV/AIDS among children in Ratodero, Pakistan amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges, efforts, and recommendations.

In Pakistan, HIV has increased at an alarming rate in recent decades, and the death toll has risen. It is a public health challenge amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that is not being given due importance. The present article looks at the challenges and efforts being made to deal with HIV among children in Ratodero, Pakistan, and addresses measures that can be taken to control the disease in the child population epidemiologically.

Viral hepatitis amidst COVID-19 in Africa: Implications and Recommendations

Abstract Hepatitis, a significant cause of mortality worldwide, results in around 1.34 million deaths each year globally. Africa is not exempt from the plague of Hepatitis. Around 100 million estimated individuals are infected with Hepatitis B (HBV) or C (HCV). Egypt has the highest prevalence cases of Hepatitis followed by Cameroon and Burundi. The continent is severly affected by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the virus has added additional burden on the already fragile continent. With the pandemic, it is presumable that Hepatitis like other viral diseases will pose a threat to collapsing healthcare system. Therefore, for Africa to become more resilient in the face of such menaces, including Hepatitis, further prevention policies are required to be implemented This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.