The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) is not only a public health emergency causing loss of life and human suffering; it also poses a major threat to the global economy and extraordinarily impacts the social-economic lives of humanity. Health systems in both high and low-income countries have struggled to provide adequate COVID-19 testing and care with negative impacts on the continuity of services for non-COVID-19 health care. There are tremendous concerns about such impacts on the healthcare system and social policy in a number of African countries.
This paper reflects the practices and emerging issues of governance and social accountability during the COVID-19 pandemic within the Eastern and Southern Africa region borrowing from the experience of practitioners on accountability and social action in Health.
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“Coronavirus makes clear what has been true all along. Your health is as safe as that of the worst-insured, worst-cared-for person in your society. It will be decided by the height of the floor, not the ceiling.” – Anand Giridharada
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a huge public health crisis and a subsequent economic crisis globally. It has also exposed the consequences of decades of chronic under-investment in health systems everywhere, but especially in low-income countries. Health systems in most African countries, already under severe strain before the massive outbreak of the virus, are at increased risk of collapsing.
COVID-19 has spread to all African countries, but despite a steady rise in the number of confirmed cases, the outbreak on the continent appears slower than the global curve for infections and deaths.
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