West and Central Africa Region COVID-19
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West and Central Africa Region COVID-19 Situation Report No. 5 © UNFPA United Nations Population Fund Reporting Period: 1 - 30 June 2020 Regional Highlights Situation in Numbers ● The total number of COVID-19 positive cases has 110,233 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases reached over 100,000 in all 23 countries in West and Central Africa, four months after the first case 2,065 COVID-19 Deaths was reported in Nigeria. By the end of June, there were nearly 2,000 deaths, a mortality rate of about 1.9 per cent. Two of every five patients were still Source: WHO 2 July 2020 hospitalized, while 55% had recovered. ● The pandemic continues to spread at an average Key Population Groups rate of 2,206 new cases per day over the last 7 days. Three countries leading with caseloads are Nigeria (25,133), Ghana (17,351) and Cameroon 13 M Pregnant Women (12,592). ● Chad (90%) and Burkina Faso (87%) have the 108 M Women of Reproductive Age highest percentage of recovery, while Chad (8.5%) and Niger (6.2%) have highest case fatality rates. 148 M Young People (age 10-24) ● UNFPA Country Offices continue making strategic interventions, in collaboration with partners, to support governments to respond to the COVID-19 13 M Older Persons (age 65+) pandemic across the region. ● About 15,000 safe deliveries were recorded in Funding Status for Region (US$) UNFPA-supported facilities in Senegal (7,779), Benin (3,647), Togo (2,588), Sierra Leone (818). ● Over 108,775 women and youth have utilised Funds Allocated integrated sexual and reproductive health (SRH) 27.6 M services in UNFPA-support facilities in the region. Total Required ● About 2,260 contact-tracers were trained and 59.3 M deployed with UNFPA support, and 1,500 women and girls subjected to violence, including those with Funding disabilities, accessed essential services (health, Gap 31.7 M social, police and justice). Regional Response Summary Regional coordination and partnerships The UNFPA response in the region aligns with the 2030 Agenda, WHO global strategic preparedness and response plan, UN-coordinated global humanitarian response plan, the UN framework for socio-economic response to COVID-19, and the UNFPA COVID-19 global response plan. UNFPA chaired its last weekly meeting of the Regional UN Sustainable Development Group for West and Central Africa. The UN Human Rights Office now chairs the weekly meetings of the Regional Directors Group aimed at coordinating UN response to the pandemic. The health, humanitarian and socio-economic challenges, brought about by the pandemic, require solidarity for a global response. There are three critical and complementary components of the UN’s efforts to save lives, protect people and rebuild better: ● The humanitarian response, as detailed in the OCHA-led COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, responding to immediate health and multi-sectoral humanitarian needs in especially vulnerable countries. ● The health response, led by WHO and detailed in the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP), to support public health measures to stop the transmission of the virus and care for those affected. The SPRP was adapted in the region with six pillars of the public health response: 1) Country-level coordination, planning and monitoring; 2) Risk communication and community engagement; 3) Surveillance, laboratories and points of entry; 4) Rapid response teams; 5) Infection prevention and control and case management; and 6) Operational support and logistics. ● The UN Framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19, to mitigate the social and economic impacts of COVID-19. The framework focuses on supporting governments and communities through five work streams: 1) Protecting health services and systems; 2) Social protection and basic services; 3) Protecting jobs and small- and medium-sized enterprises; 4) Macroeconomic choices and international cooperation and multilateralism; and 5) Social cohesion and community resilience. ● The UNFPA regional office published a practical guide and lessons learned from a 20-year review of pandemics. The findings provide guidance on ensuring the continuity of reproductive, maternal, neonatal and adolescent health in times of pandemics. The review looked at past pandemics including SARS-CoV, HIV/AIDS, Ebola Virus Disease, Zika and MERS-CoV. UNFPA leadership on data and evidence for better informed decisions ● UNFPA WCARO held a webinar to discuss the impact of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the processes and conduct of General of Population and Housing Census (GPHC) in West and Central Africa. The meeting provided the opportunity for countries engaged in census processes, in particular, the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) to take stock of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their operations, three months after the first COVID-19 positive case surfaced in the region. Participants analyzed the pandemic situation in their respective countries to understand better its impact on the operations of the NSIs and more specifically, on censuses. ● Cape Verde: UNFPA supported the adaptation of the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) for the integration of a COVID-19 module aimed at adequately managing COVID-19 data, and strengthening Risk Communication and Community Engagement. This is done through support to the National Institute of Public Health, NGOs, youth associations and networks of people and women living with HIV/AIDS. ● UNFPA is supporting the National Institute of Statistics in adapting and simplifying procedures to design surveys adapted to the new context of the COVID 19 pandemic to enable rapid surveys (establishment of the Call Centre to enable online surveys and staff capacity building). Regional Response Summary continued 1. Continuity of SRH services and interventions, including protection of health workforce ● In 17 countries in the region, UNFPA is leading life-saving SRH services through the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health in emergencies. ● 108,775 women and youth utilised integrated SRH services in UNFPA-supported facilities in Benin (1,141), Guinea-Bissau (2,002), Senegal (42,832) and Liberia (62,800). ● In nine countries, there is functional emergency obstetric and newborn care coverage, per international recommended minimum standards (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo). ● In 8 countries, UNFPA is leading national contact-tracing and case monitoring (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger and Senegal). ● 14,946 safe deliveries were facilitated in UNFPA-supported facilities in Benin (3,647), Guinea-Bissau (114), Senegal (7,779), Sierra Leone (818) and Togo (2,588). ● 2,260 contact-tracers were trained and deployed with UNFPA support in Cabo Verde (60), Liberia (447), Niger (92) and Senegal (1,661). ● 2,662 contacts were traced with UNFPA support in Gambia (789) and Liberia (1873). Country examples: ● Burkina Faso: UNFPA provided technical support for the elaboration and reproduction of a booklet on obstetric gynecology and neonatology in the period of the coronavirus pandemic for maternity care providers. Twenty vocational training and learning centres have been equipped with a COVID-19 protection kit to facilitate the resumption of learning after the closure of training centres. 75 providers in nursing school were oriented on what to do in the context of COVID-19. Financial and technical support was provided to 7 health districts for the training of 700 maternity hospital providers on the prevention of COVID-19. ● Cabo Verde: UNFPA is working with the Government and civil sociey organizations to ensure continuity of sexual and reproductive Health (SRH), maternal and neonatal health, and adolescent services. This is through the provision of reproductive health (RH) commodities - modern contraceptives and condoms- to strengthen community engagement, supporting i) the development of Official Guidelines on Essential SRH Services to avoid dysfunction of RH services; (ii) revision/adaptation of the Prenatal/Birth and Postpartum Protocols in the context of COVID-19); and (iii) procurement of the 9 million male condoms. UNFPA is promoting the empowerment of young people and youth leaders to strengthen their participation and commitment as agents of change in the context of COVID-19, through training packages on leadership skills online at national level, so they can work in their communities. ● Cameroon: UNFPA conducted a sensitisation campaign on television on the contribution of midwives in the prevention and care of COVID-19. Continuous advocacy and follow-up on SRH targets ( pregnant women and GBV survivors) in the National COVID-19 Situation Report. UNFPA did the “2020 Year of the Midwife social Media Campaign” under the national theme, “the contribution of the midwives in response to Covid 19 in Cameroon” for two days, reaching 11,000 persons ● Ghana: UNFPA supported the Pentecost Convention Centre, which has the capacity to host over 1000 people in mandatory quarantine, with over 7,000 dignity kits and other hygiene products. To ensure the continuation of education and continuous education on SRH/GBV, amidst COVID-19, a Youth Impact Series was established, which creates a virtual platform for over 250 participants to discuss and find solutions to various issues, including disruption of SRH information, disruption to education, and how to leverage technology to disseminate information, including on COVID-19. About 700 COVID-adapted dignity kits were donated to the