Lack of ventilators an issue in Africa – WHO

The WHO and World Food Programme held a briefing on Thursday on the coronavirus outbreak in Africa.

Health Minster Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday that they would be seeking reinforcements from China and Cuba for ICU beds - in case of a worst-case scenario.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti - Regional Director for WHO in Africa and headquartered in Congo - said the organisation does not have the exact numbers yet.

"I think at the moment we're trying to fund out this information from our country-based colleagues so that we know the number for the region.

"But what we can say without a doubt is that there is an enormous gap in the numbers of ventilators needed in African countries," Moeti added.

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She said teams around the continent are working on the numbers and how to avert certain challenges.

"As we see the evolution of spaces, as we see the number of countries with local transmissions, geographical spread within the countries and as this happens within the context global shortage and lockdowns - this will make the transportation a challenge.

"We are working with our colleagues now to find out the actual information and to carry out projections of the probable number of cases that occur at different circumstances in different countries and estimate what gap there will be."

Moeti said this will also assist in finding the ventilators and delivering them during various lockdowns.

"We'll work with our partners how to source this type of equipment and more importantly the transportation arranged for the procured ventilators."

Moeti admits that is an area of challenge at the moment as many African countries have fewer confirmed cases.