COVID-19 MANAGMENT: Curriculum for Community Health Workers

OVERVIEW:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sub-Saharan Africa has only 3% of the world’s health workers to cater for 11% of the world population, bearing over 25% of the global disease burden (WHO, 2014). With a steady increase in reported cases on the African Continent, the current COVID-19 pandemic threatens to overwhelm our already taxed health infrastructure. It is, therefore, imperative to take serious and urgent measures towards disease management and monitoring especially as the need for self-quarantine and contact surveillance rises.

In view of the infrastructural and resource gaps, technology should be considered for remote management of healthcare deliver to patients during this period. As it is abundantly clear, even countries with more advanced healthcare infrastructure and resources have struggled to treat COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients during this pandemic.

As the populace is being asked to adapt to ever-changing mandates and being afraid to visit hospitals, there is a risk of serious collateral damage to the health of the general population. To mitigate the challenges in the healthcare system, each country needs to adopt a multipronged approach to management of the pandemic.