A Review on the COVID-19 Pandemic & Healthcare Systems in Africa

Associate Professor Gizachew Tessema co-heads the Epidemiology Research Lab at Curtin University. He was awarded the Raine Publication Prize for his publication entitled “The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa: a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response”, which appeared in the BMJ Global Health journal in 2021.

This important publication significantly influenced policy development and knowledge dissemination, informing the World Health Organization's position paper on strengthening health systems to promote universal health coverage and enhance health security in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on health, the global economy, and the global health system. The pandemic overwhelmed health systems in both high-and low-income countries and claimed more than 7 million lives. However, unlike in high-income countries, there was limited evidence exploring the level of preparedness and short-term health system implications of the pandemic in Africa.

Associate Professor Tessema’s publication provided comprehensive evidence evaluating the COVID-19 pandemic effects on the African healthcare systems, encompassing the preparedness, impacts of, and response measures. The research identified three core preparedness-related bottlenecks in the region: equipment and resource constraints, capacity constraints related to testing and inadequate surge capacity to deal with increased service needs related to COVID-19. The publication also highlighted critical impacts of the pandemic including reduced service utilisation rates for essential healthcare services and missing scheduled appointments by chronic care patients. Additionally, it identified response measures such as establishing telephone consultations, re-purposing services and facilities.

Associate Professor Tessema's research into these crucial parameters has had a global impact, aiding countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to advance universal health coverage and ensure health security

The prize awarded to Associate Professor Tessema allowed him to attend the 17th World Congress on Public Health (one of the largest public health conferences) in Rome, Italy in May 2023 where hepresented his influential research. During the conference, aside from his national collaborators, he also met one of the past presidents of World Federation of Public Health Associations, Dr Mengistu Asnake, whom he invited to be a plenary speaker for an annual conference hosted by the Australian-based Ethiopian Researchers Network and enhanced global networks for Associate Professor Tessema

Associate Professor Tessema shared, “I believe the most substantial achievements overall from this prize are the recognition of the quality of my work and the opportunities it has afforded me to engage in high-quality international collaborations. Beyond the recognition, the associated prize funding has also allowed me to plan and attend prestigious international conferences and strengthen my collaborations. The Raine Foundation and its partners have played an integral role in shaping my career trajectory over the past few years as an early-career researcher.”