African Public Health Network Newsletter #3
Editorial
By Aisha
Our first Newsletter for 2021 is here! Happy New Year from all of us at APHN and we hope your year has set off on a good note. We have been working behind the scenes and happy to bring to you our first podcast session with Dr. Sufia Dadabhai, Director of the Johns Hopkins Research Center in Malawi (more information below).
We are also prepping for our annual conference Faces of Africa, on March 29th — April 2nd, with guest speakers to discuss Advancing Equity for Women. The speakers represent the many struggles and triumphs from the African continent and are inspirations to many.
Register Here: http://bit.ly/facesofafrica2021
Keynote Speaker: Her Excellency Amira Elfadil Mohammed Elfadil
Women account for more than 50 percent of Africa’s combined population, but in 2018 generated only 33 percent of the continent’s collective GDP. This reinforces and fuels inequality and compromises Africa’s long-term economic health. Overall, progress toward gender equality has stalled over the past four years. One of the causes for gender inequality within employment is the division of jobs. In most societies, there’s an inherent belief that men are simply better equipped to handle certain jobs. Most of the time, those are the jobs that pay the best. This discrimination results in lower income for women.
COVID VACCINE ROLLOUT IN AFRICA
With anticipations around COVID-19 vaccination and the status on the African continent, the big question remains — will it be accepted by the people?
The move to roll out COVID-19 vaccines comes as new evidence shows new variants of the virus are spreading across the continent. In all the African countries that have detected the new variants, the pandemic spread faster in the second wave than in the first one. Variant 501Y.V2 [also known as B1.351] is predominant in South Africa, where it was first identified, and Zambia. It has since been detected in a total of nine African nations including Botswana, Comoros, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The VOC202012/01variant [also known as B1.1.7], first detected in the United Kingdom, has been found in six African countries - Gambia, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.
Africa marked the move from planning to action in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines at a World Health Organization (WHO)-hosted African Health Ministers meeting on 17th February, 2021. Therefore, a rapid vaccine rollout is expected in the wake of the WHO listing of two versions of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
In a significant step forward for the African region, national deployment and vaccination plans for COVID-19 vaccines from 35 low-income African countries eligible for free vaccines from the COVAX Facility have been accepted by an independent regional review committee. The plans are required for countries to receive vaccines from COVAX, the global initiative to ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines led by WHO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
While the regional committee of over 100 experts from six leading global public health bodies certified the deployment plans, it called for more work on setting up systems to manage the logistics and supply chain for vaccines, reaching refugees, migrants, and internally displaced people and financing national vaccination campaigns.
“Africa is revving up to rollout COVID-19 vaccines. These thorough vaccine preparation plans will help ensure African countries can hit the ground running in quickly immunizing the most vulnerable people. Meticulous planning is key to ensuring vaccines reach all priority groups, wherever they are, in every single African country,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa[1].
UN Women announces Theme
UN Women announces the theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2021 (IWD 2021) as, “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”
The theme celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is also aligned with the priority theme of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”, and the flagship Generation Equality campaign, which calls for women’s right to decision-making in all areas of life, equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end all forms of violence against women and girls, and health-care services that respond to their needs. Women stand at the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, as health care workers, caregivers, innovators, community organizers, and as some of the most exemplary and effective national leaders in combating the pandemic. The crisis has highlighted both the centrality of their contributions and the disproportionate burdens that women carry. Women leaders and women’s organizations have demonstrated their skills, knowledge and networks to effectively lead in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. Today, there is more acceptance than ever before that women bring different experiences, perspectives and skills to the table, and make irreplaceable contributions to decisions, policies and laws that work better for all.
Celebrating Black History at JHU
By Jonta
As February is Black History Month in the US we have highlighted some key figures in Black History at Johns Hopkins University.
Claudia Thomas- Graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1975. She became the first Black orthopaedic surgeon in the United States. While an undergraduate student at Vassar College, she led to efforts that created her school’s Africana Studies Department.
Vivien T. Thomas- Instrumental in many of the surgical advances in the 1930s. Thomas was hired as a research technician doing post-doctoral research although his job was listed as a “janitor”. Thomas was successful in innovating open heart surgeries such as the first successful blue baby experience. Thomas worked at Johns Hopkins for 35 years.
Fannie Gaston-Johansson- First Black female full professor at Johns Hopkins University. She researched racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes and she developed the internationally known Painometer pain assessment tool. In 2007, she became the inaugural chair of the School of Nursing’s Department of Acute and Chronic Care.
Levi Watkins- Was the first Black chief resident in Cardiac Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was the first surgeon to implant an automatic human defibrillator. He was a doctor to many figures of the civil rights movement and was responsible for increasing minority representation in the school of medicine.
All the images and information are from a Black History Month Document by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Click here to access the document and for more information on Black History at Johns Hopkins University.
Health and Human Rights
This month we have also been discussing human rights on our social media Platforms. Some important Human rights documents and the rights to health that they safeguard are listed below.
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
The declaration was proclaimed on December 10, 1948 in Paris General Assembly resolution 217 A (III). This was the first kind of document created and has become the basis for many constitutions. The declaration has 30 articles and has been signed by all 192 member state. Article 25is the right to health, which highlights that human begins should have “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”.
Click here for more information on the UDHR.
African Charter of Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR)
The African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights, also known as the Banjul Charter, was adopted by the African Union (AU). The charter is 30 years old and was adopted on June 28, 1981. This charter is enforced by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Article 16 of this Charter specifically addresses the right to health.
— Signatories and Ratifications of the ACHPR
(Source, African Union, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 2021)
Africa Youth Charter
The Africa Youth Charter was adopted on July 6, 2006 and the last signature was on June 27, 2009. The Africa Youth Charter provides a framework for youth empowerment and development activities across the African Continent. The document was first drafted in January 2006. Youth are defined as people between ages 15–35. Article 16 of the charter specifically references the “Right to Health” highlighting how state parties should ensure that every young person attains physical, mental, and spiritual health.
· Click here For more information.
· The African Union, also has a program to engage youth, click here to learn more about the AU Youth Envoy.
Internally Displaced People
Convention African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: This convention is also known as the Kampala Convention and was adopted on October 23, 2009. This Charter has been signed by 40 AU member states. This convention has been entered into force on December 06, 2012, and has been registered with the United Nations. The convention has 23 articles and provides a legal framework for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
· Click here to learn more about this convention
(Source: 2019 Africa Report on Internal Displacement, IDMC, 2019)
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa: The convention was adopted Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on September 10, 1969. This convention has been signed by 43 member states as of May 16, 2019. The charter was adopted on September 10, 1969 and entered into force on January 20, 1974. This convention recognizes refugees’ problems and the growing number of refugees that there are on the continent. The convention has 15 articles.
Click here to learn more about this convention.
Our Podcast Series
Host: Ukeme
On our first episode of Health Talk Africa, we have the opportunity to hear from Dr. Sufia Dadabhai, director of the Johns Hopkins Research center in Malawi. We discuss pursuing a path in global health and what life in Malawi is like — pre and during Covid. Another key topic discussed is addressing disparities and how one can apply one’s privilege to boost another’s power. Additionally, we hear her experiences navigating a male dominated hierarchical society as an American woman. Enjoy!
Listen Here: https://anchor.fm/aphn/episodes/An-Interview-with-Dr--Sufia-Dadabhai-epnc3i
Stories From the Field
By Dr. Ellen Barnie Peprah
I never knew teen pregnancy was such a big deal. Don’t get me wrong. As a teenager, I knew a lot about teen pregnancies (my mother made sure of that), I knew enough about how to prevent them and what could potentially happen if I got pregnant. However, after I spent six weeks in the Central Region of Ghana, as part of my Community Health rotation while in medical school, I began to appreciate the intricate linkages between teen pregnancies and our health delivery system, education, legal system, and social welfare.
As special guests of the village, we were welcomed into their homes and, sometimes into their private affairs. That was how I met Theresa, Gladys, Princess and Vera (names changed for privacy sake), who had all been impregnated at age 12, 16, 17, and 15 respectively by one man! One old man who had promised to give them money for school. One old man who owned the land on which their parents farmed. One old man who had four wives already! I was livid that he was walking free. Such people needed to face the full rigours of the law. According to the community health nurse who graciously chaperoned our visits within the community, that man wielded a lot of power and was untouchable. There was nothing a merely visiting, medical student could do to bring him to book and I knew that.
My rage turned into inspiration. I started the Adolescent Health Advocacy project in my fifth year of medical school. The goal was to reach as many girls as possible with information on contraception, unsafe abortions, menstrual hygiene, self-esteem, etc. just so they could be prepared to handle similar situations should they arise. This project reached 541 adolescent girls through two community outreaches organised within six months. Our follow-up so far shows that we have made progress. All of our mentees are currently in school, or receiving vocational skills training to improve their chances of a better life.
I am currently practising as a doctor in Ghana, fighting on the frontlines of this deadly pandemic. We are doing the most we can to offer the general public good and quality healthcare despite scarce resources. After almost a year of practice, I cannot help but notice how there are pediatric and adult specialists for every system in the human body. There’s not much being said here for adolescents. And if I had a pesewa for every time my superiors debated on whether an adolescent had to be sent to paediatric ward or adult male/ female ward, I would be a millionaire in Ghana Cedis. The most reliable adjudicator in such situations is bodily size. “He looks old. Let’s send him to the male ward”, they would say.
I believe we can do more for adolescents. Adolescents already have the stresses of the transition from childhood to adulthood, — and its attendant struggles — to deal with. I wish we could make life easier for them. I recently had the opportunity to contribute to a PMNCH and BMJ paper on adolescent well-being in the digital age. This background paper will form the basis of broader stakeholder consultations for policy and programming to promote adolescent well-being as part of the #adolescent2030 agenda. I am excited about the prospects of this paper in shaping the healthcare delivery , educational, legal and social welfare system for the good of adolescents worldwide, and I look forward to contributing to further victories for adolescents.
More about the Author
Dr. Ellen Barnie Peprah is a doctor at the Department of Surgery of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana. She also volunteers with Youth Transforming Africa network, where as Youth Voices Coordinator, she spearheads the creation of country clubs in 16 West African countries to ensure the voices of young people are taken into consideration in decision making. She won the 2020 World Bank Africa Blog4Dev competition for her ideas on how to end child marriage in Ghana and is an MCN Millennium Fellow, Class of 2019. She has consulted for various organisations, including the World Bank Africa, UNFPA Ghana, Ghana Health Service Family Health Division and recently PMNCH, lending invaluable youth perspectives for their research, policy and programming. Her research interests are Adolescent Health, Women’s Health and NCDs. Connect with her on Twitter: @ebpeprah and LinkedIn: bit.ly/ebpeprah
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Notes
[1] https://www.afro.who.int/news/africa-getting-ready-roll-out-covid-19-vaccines
[2] · Click here for more information on the ACHPR and for the image source.
[3] Click here to learn more about IDPs on the African Continent.
