Featured speakers include:
While the African continent was predicted to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, African populations appear to have thus far evaded widespread morbidity and mortality due to the virus. This track will assess how the pandemic has unfolded on the African continent, discuss possible biologic mechanisms that may have mitigated the impact of the disease, identify areas of particular need for future research in the African setting, and discuss the future of COVID-19 in Africa.
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As the world looks toward preparing for future health threats, African countries need to strengthen their vaccine manufacturing capacities by bolstering regulatory agencies, developing the necessary human resource potential and attracting financial and technical investment. This track will explore the current state of COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Africa and the way forward, as well as the future of vaccine manufacturing on the continent.
Confirmed speakers include:
African countries and continental public health institutions have had to develop innovative approaches to meet the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic – from a rapid expansion of diagnostic capacity and genomics, to pooling resources between nations and across the public-private sector. This track will explore case studies that can inform innovative approaches to building strong health systems in Africa.
Confirmed speakers include:
Panel: COVID-19 and Technological Opportunities
Debate: Innovations emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic response increase Africa’s chances of achieving Universal Health Coverage
Panel: COVID GAP – Joint Convening to Accelerate Global COVID-19 Vaccinations
The proposed New Public Health Order is an urgent call for Africa to strengthen public health institutions, decentralize public health engagements for more efficient implementation, bolster capacity for local production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, while creating significant investments in the health workforce and leadership programs, and building respectful public-private partnerships. This track will focus on two tenets of the New Public Health Order: building the capacity of the Africa CDC and National Public Health Institutes, and investing in the public health workforce.
Confirmed speakers include:
Panel: Establishing a National Public Health Institute: A conversation with Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu
Panel: Getting to the business of economic and social recovery: AU Commission on COVID-19
Panel: Futureproofing Africa’s health system
While African countries have responded relatively well to the pandemic, the continent has faced a variety of challenges, including in some instances weak leadership; restrictions in the global supply chain with insufficient test kits, personal protective equipment and vaccines; and misinformation. This track will examine the effectiveness of Africa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight key successes, challenges and lessons learned to prepare for future health threats. It will also explore ways to prevent the severe unintended economic and social consequences that often follow health crises such as COVID-19.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the advent of digital tools and technologies for public health messaging, epidemiologic surveillance, screening and diagnosis for rapid case identification, interruption of community transmission and clinical care delivery. This track will explore how digitisation, modelling and analytics can be fruitfully employed to sustain the public health goals of quality, accessibility, efficiency and equity in health care.
Confirmed speakers include:
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Effective partnerships and collaborations across all sectors will be critical to winning the fight against COVID-19. This track will focus on what can be done to create and harmonize more effective platforms for public-private dialogue to strengthen health systems; the innovations and investments that should be prioritized to better prepare for and respond to future pandemics and outbreaks; how leveraging private sector supply chain best practices can improve health supply chains in low- and middle-income countries; the role of local leadership in effective testing and diagnostics; and community engagement best practices.
Confirmed speakers include:
Panel: Boosting the manufacturing of vaccines in Africa
Panel: Strategic community engagements to strengthen health systems in Africa
Debate: Harmonizing regulations to drive investments in vaccine in Africa
Johnson & Johnson: COVID-19 vaccine work in Africa & implementation partnership with the AU
Chatham House: A Practical Perspective on Decolonizing Global Health
University of Southern California: Findings from the Mental Health and Wellness (MEHEWE) Study
University of Toronto and Moi University:
Networks and partnership in LMIC: building reciprocal global health partnerships
Africa CDC: Africa CDC National Public Health Institutes
Africa CDC: African Women leaders in public health through history
Bohemian Smartlytics Limited: Leveraging technology to transform HIV care and management – SmartHIV Solution
COVID GAP: Joint Convening to Accelerate Global Covid-19 Vaccinations (invitation only)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dalberg, Pandemic Action Network and Resolve to Save Lives: Prepared to Respond: COVID-19 Lessons for the Next Health Emergency (P2RF)
Amref: The State of UHC in Africa Report: Reflections on our progress and recommendations moving forward
Global Health Network: Connecting Excellence in Data Science across Africa
CCA/HSRI:
Practical Private Sector Lessons for Strengthening Health Systems in Africa
ICRC:
Innovative Approaches and Partnerships to Address Current and Future Health Threats in Africa: A humanitarian perspective
African Alliance:
No community left behind! Charting a truly African, inclusive and accountable response to COVID-19
AfroChampions: Making Travel Bans History with African Innovation
AHF: Africa Leadership on a new Global Public Health Convention
AfroPHC: Role of youth in Primary Healthcare (PHC) strengthening during the COVID-19 pandemic
PIH: Respond, Recover, Reimagine: Building equitable, resilient health systems in the context of COVID-19 on the African continent
High Commission for COVID-19 of Guinea-Bissau/CPLP: Ministerial Side Event – Management of COVID-19 and Lessons
CEPI: Vaccine Research, Development and Manufacturing in Africa: lessons learnt from COVID-19
Equilibre International RDC: Une mi- enquête socio-anthropologique à l’appui de la communication sur le Covid-19 en Afrique Centrale
MMV: Strengthening innovation capacity for public health security in Africa during and beyond COVID-19 – lessons learning from local manufacturing of antimalarials
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) / ANRS Cameroun: Between vaccine equity and social perceptions of COVID-19 in Central and West Africa
MSF: Getting noma out of the neglect – Screening and talk
PSRT: The Private Sector Roundtable (PSRT) on Global Health Security: The Private Sector’s Evolving Role in Health Emergencies
University of Maryland: Covid-19 Vaccination Access and Monitoring: Lessons Learned from Kenya and Nigeria
J&J: Ebola Virus Disease Prevention and Control Through Vaccination in Africa: Where We Are and Where We Are Going
IOM: Resetting the unfinished agenda on the health of migrants for equitable Health system: focus on Preparedness and response
University of Botswana: Evidence of genetic risk for HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa
MSF: A global pandemic: the need for localized response
FIND: Diagnostic action planning for SARS-CoV-2 variant detection and response
Africa-Europe Foundation: Addressing health workforces’ challenges in a changing health landscape
Ziccum: Thermostable dry powder vaccines-Transforming vaccine access and delivery in Africa
Doctors Insight: Digital Health: Leveraging on Technologies to Improve Healthcare in Africa
AFREHealth: The AFREhealth Response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
Community Health Impact Coalition: Implementation Support Guide: Development of a National Georeferenced Community Health Worker Master List Hosted in a Registry
Helmsley: Hidden Suffering: Prioritizing Chronic Care in the COVID Era