Interim Guidance on the Use of Rapid Antigen tests for COVID-19 Response
Purpose of this guidance This document provides guidance to Ministries of Health (MOHs), laboratory personnel and implementing partners in African Union Member States on the application of rapid antigen tests to COVID-19 testing. The guidance serves as reference for policymakers, laboratory leads, implementing partners, and experts on use case scenarios and associated testing algorithms for […]
Questions and answers on COVID-19 vaccine
How do vaccines work? Vaccines work by tricking your body into thinking it has been infected with a disease-causing organism (also called germs) such as a virus, prompting it to develop an immune reaction to the organism itself. This can be done in many different ways including growing the germ in a laboratory and then […]
Guidance on pooled testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Purpose of this document: The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the use of pooled sample testing strategy in coronavirus disease (COVID-19)testing laboratories of the African Union Member States for scaling up SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing capacity with the available resources. The current document describes the effect of factors such as the […]
Establishment of a Biobanking Network as a Sustainable Mechanism to Accelerate Development and Evaluation of Diagnostic Tests in Africa
Purpose of the the Biobanking Network: Outbreaks of infectious diseases are occurring with increasing frequency and unpredictability. The rapid development and deployment of diagnostics that can accurately and quickly identify pathogens as part of epidemic preparedness is essential, including now for the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the past two decades have seen rapid advances in diagnostic technologies, […]
Africa CDC Consortium for COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials (CONCVACT)
Context: The Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 is underpinned by the need to limit transmission, prevent deaths and reduce associated harms. Participation by African nations in clinical trials is an essential step to ensure that sufficient data is generated on the safety and efficacy of the most promising vaccine candidates among the region’s populations. […]
Guidance for Awake Prone Ventilation in the non-intubated Conscious Patient
Prone positioning in spontaneously breathing non-intubated COVID-19 patients This document provides guidance for African Union Member States on the use of awake prone positioning in non-intubated coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. It is intended for use among clinicians taking care of moderate to severe COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 outbreak has brought with it the need for […]
Webinar Series on COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance in Africa
Topic: Main Routes of Entry and Genomic Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in UgandaSpeaker: Prof. Matthew Cotten Professor of Pathogen Genomics and Bioinformatics MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda, and Professor in Viral Genomics MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UKDate: Wednesday, 02 September 2020Time: 2:00PM – 3:00PM East Africa TimeLink: https://bit.ly/2Okfoqy
Ensuring COVID-19 vaccine preparedness through community engagement
Ensuring COVID-19 vaccine preparedness through community engagement: Lesson from adult female vaccination programmes in Africa Date: Wednesday, 19 August 2020Time: 12:00 – 13:30 East Africa Time
Guidance on Setting Up an Isolation Ward for COVID-19 Cases
Scope: The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Africa is increasing, and in many countries the number of cases has surpassed the number of available hospital beds. Because of the surge many countries are using tents or converting existing buildings into isolation wards. This document simplifies the WHO guidance on severe acute respiratory […]
Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing
Introduction: The Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) initiative is a multi-pronged activity to increase the capacity of African Union Member States to Test, Trace, and Treat individuals with COVID-19. Implemented by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), it aims to support, in Africa, (a) conduct of 10 million COVID-19 tests; […]