RPT - WHO Official Endorses Providing Debt Relief to African Counties Amid Pandemic

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2020) African nations are in need of external assistance to be able to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, with debt relief being an important component of it, WHO Africa Program Manager for Emergency Response Michel Yao told Sputnik in an interview.

Over the past few weeks, the African Union and several individual African nations have called for international economic support throughout the pandemic, including in the form of a temporary freeze on payment of their external debt.

"We need some help. Countries were appealing for debt relief. This is necessary for countries ... What we are appealing for, for the moment is difficult. It is difficult even for developed countries, but it's even worse for developing countries," Yao said, adding that "the [debt] relief can at least give an opportunity" to African nations.

According to the WHO official, investments should be poured into helping to "strengthen the system and to address critical gap that make our communities more vulnerable," particularly with regard to tangible health care assets such as intensive care units and lab capacities.

"Opening up is needed in Africa. It is more difficult compared to other parts of the world, because many people are living below the poverty line. It is very difficult for them to comply; it can result in security issues, in demonstrations that will worsen the situation," Yao said.

In light of these, the WHO expert suggested that relevant NGOs also consider providing assistance directly to people affected by the lockdown in order to facilitate their compliance with the restrictions by increasing resilience against economic shocks.

Social unrest has recently broken out in several African countries in response to lockdowns, causing health organizations to fear a worse spread of the virus during such mass gatherings. Some nations, including South Africa, responded by partially easing control measures in a bid to avert a possible economic crisis and allow people living from hand to mouth to feed their families.