Credit: WHO
By Oladipupo Samuel
Over
the past few weeks, I have taken time to reflect on the current happenings due
to Corona Virus Pandemic. It is really saddening to see the figures of
casualties skyrocket in some countries especially in Europe. Other countries of
the world are beginning to see a gradual increase in the number of cases as
well as fatalities.
One
thing that has kept me pondering is how the continent of Africa has been able
to prevent an increase in the casualty figures. Many African countries have not
witnessed a surge in the number of deaths even 30 days after their index cases
unlike other countries like France, Italy, Spain and the United States of
America who have supposedly taken more stringent measures and are still waxing
in the difficulty of taming the spread of the virus.
Could
there be possible explanations as regards the positive data being reported in
African? Even amidst the dearth in medical equipment and personnel, how has
Africa been able to cope in this difficult times?
Listed
below are possible reasons:
Age
Distribution: The age distribution in
Africa is like a pyramid implying that the base of the pyramid represents the population of newborn which is very large and keeps decreasing until the tip;
which stands for the population of the elderly; meaning, less population of people
are in the age bracket of 80-100 years. This is not the reality in many
developed countries where the number of newly born infants is almost equal to
the population of senior citizens above 75 years. Additionally, Africa has the
highest population of youths in the entire world and live expectancy lies
between an average of 48-58 years, implying that fewer people are in the age
bracket of 70-100. Could this be the reason for more death recorded in Europe
and much less in Africa? As a result of the vulnerabilities of these senior
citizens above 65 years, the global deaths recorded due to COVID 19 is largely
in this population.
Also,
in Africa, many of the aged above retirement age prefer to leave the cities and
relocate to the countryside and villages which make them less exposed to the
virus unlike countries in Europe where a huge chunk of the aged are part of the
city life. What do you think?
Smoking: I
will not write a lot on this. Having lived in Europe for a few years, I have
witnessed how smoking is a way of life. Once you are above a certain age,
smoking is no longer a problem and there is no social or religious
discrimination against it. In Africa, smoking is also popular but definitely
not at the level I have seen in Europe. To the best of my knowledge smoking
worsening the health condition of your lungs and other vital organs. In a
situation you are infected with the coronavirus, this can contribute to your
quick susceptibility.
Vaccination: The
health problems in Africa are enormous-from polio, and tuberculosis, to
malaria, HIV and hepatitis. Therefore, no other continent has received as many
shots of vaccination like we do. To survive as an infant here is more than
twice harder than anywhere else in the world. These vaccinations and the
interaction between them may have also improved our immunity in a particular
way. The number of coronavirus cases in Africa is grossly underreported but the
reality is that deaths due to this virus are low. Else dead bodies will litter
many streets because our health care system is nothing to write about due to
poor funding. Do you agree?
Immunity against Malaria Parasite: If
I were to count the number of mosquitoes that have bitten me, I will say maybe
1 million because it is actually uncountable. Many Africans have passed through
worse situations and we are still standing. The use of several malaria drugs
have helped in building our immunity over the years against infections that
come with symptoms such as fever, cold, sneezing and the rest. No wonder
President Trump of the United States of America keeps insinuating the
possibility of chloroquine and hydroxyl-chloroquine as a potential drug for the
treatment of COVID 19. Many of us have used these types of drugs for more than
50 times in our fight against malaria from childhood. Could this have helped in
reducing the fatalities?
Brethren,
this is only my opinion, and they may be out of place. We have the
responsibility to adhere to the mitigation strategies being publicized by the
WHO, CDC and your government.
Social
distancing and proper hygiene are important steps to defeat this Virus.
I
will like to hear from you.
We
shall scale through this difficult time together. Stay Safe
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