A paper titled ‘Implementing COVID-19 response within the context of the broader health system: a proposed framework for Africa´s policymakers’ was published as part of a special issue on the COVID-19 response in Africa. The authors note that heads of government in Africa responded to the pandemic by setting up high-level task forces at continental and national levels to coordinate preparedness and response strategies in a bid to mitigate the spread of this virus on the continent. However, the current approach narrowly focuses on COVID-19, and this is not sustainable. This is in part because sustaining access to essential life-saving health services such as immunization is also critical during this pandemic.
The commentary calls for a more holistic health systems-based model for the COVID-19 outbreak response. The recommendation is for decision-makers to transition response strategies from vertical isolated programs to a broad-based “time-bound” integrated health system intervention that links with existing health programs as well as other government and non-governmental sectors. If this is not addressed, people will potentially face a significant reduction in access to life-saving health services, including immunization.
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