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African countries established COVID-19 testing in one month: Here's how they did it
Timothy Amukele1, Ryland N Spence2
1ICON Clinical Laboratories, ICON Clinical Research PLC, Farmingdale, New York, United States.
Insights
Rapid development of COVID-19 testing in Africa demonstrates the critical role of trusted institutions. Building local capacity is key for future public health preparedness in low- and middle-income countries.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Global Health Security
Background:
- The rapid global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early 2020 highlighted a critical gap in diagnostic testing capacity across Africa.
- Within approximately one month, 42 African nations established the necessary expertise and resources for COVID-19 testing, transforming a significant public health challenge.
- This rapid scale-up presented a unique opportunity to document a public health success story and extract valuable lessons for future pandemic preparedness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To document the swift establishment of COVID-19 testing capabilities in African laboratories.
- To identify key factors and stakeholders contributing to the rapid development of diagnostic capacity.
- To derive actionable insights for enhancing future public health responses in resource-limited settings.
Main Methods:
- The study identifies three primary groups instrumental in establishing testing capacity: early test manufacturers, private and public donors, and rollout coordinators.
- Highlights include the rapid innovation of test manufacturers, such as TIB MolBiol, and the crucial role of organizations like the Jack Ma Foundation, World Health Organization, and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
- The Africa CDC's role as a trusted coordinator in securing resources and facilitating rapid capacity building is examined.
Main Results:
- Remarkable speed in developing and deploying COVID-19 diagnostic tests across 42 African countries within just over a month.
- Successful mobilization of resources through partnerships, facilitated by the credibility and transparency of coordinating bodies.
- Demonstrated ability of nascent institutions, like the three-year-old Africa CDC, to effectively lead large-scale public health initiatives.
Conclusions:
- Speed and decisive action are paramount during public health crises.
- Establishing and maintaining trust in institutions is crucial for effective resource mobilization and implementation of public health strategies.
- Low- and middle-income countries should prioritize building robust, locally-led trusted institutions to bolster preparedness for future health emergencies.
Background:
As a novel and deadly acute respiratory syndrome, which later became known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), spread beyond China in late January 2020, there were no laboratories in Africa that could test for the disease. However, in early March, just over a month later, 42 African countries had developed the expertise and resources to perform COVID-19 testing. Our goal was to document this public health success story, learn from it, and use it to inform future public health action.
Intervention:
Three groups were primarily responsible for establishing COVID-19 testing capacity in Africa. The first group comprised early test manufacturers who reacted with incredible speed and ingenuity early in the pandemic, such as the German company TIB MolBiol that developed a molecular test for COVID-19 before the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence was available. The second group included private and public donors such as the Jack Ma Foundation, and the last were the coordinators of the rollout, such as the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Lessons Learnt:
The first lesson was that speed is critical, especially during a crisis. It was also demonstrated that being a predictable and transparent trusted institution opens doors and improves effectiveness. Africa CDC, which was only three years old, was able to secure significant resources from external partners and rapidly build substantial testing capacity within Africa because it is a trusted institution.
Recommendations:
Low- and middle-income countries must build local trusted institutions to better prepare for public health challenges.
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