Strengthening Health Care Systems Top Priority for ICRC in Africa, Not COVID-19- President

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2020) The overall strengthening of health care systems in Africa is the current top priority for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the continent, not COVID-19, the president of the humanitarian organization, Peter Maurer, told Sputnik in an interview.

"Paradoxically, on the African continent, the direct health impact of COVID-19 has not been our top concern. COVID-19 doesn't figure in the top 10 health concerns of Africans," Maurer remarked.

According to the ICRC president, the organization's top priorities on the African continent include the overall strengthening of health care systems and supporting the economic and social recovery needed after the pandemic.

"On the African continent, the top priority is really strengthening the health care system and also contributing to community recovery, social and economic community recovery.

These are the entry points to deal with the pandemic in Africa," Maurer stated.

Other diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis, have much higher mortality rates in Africa than the coronavirus disease, the ICRC president stated.

Since the start of the pandemic, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Office for Africa has registered more than 1.9 million cases of the coronavirus disease on the continent.

According to data published by the WHO, South Africa and Morocco have registered the most positive tests with 751,024 and 288,211, respectively.