There are a few examples that show that African institutions of higher learning and many other organisations can play their part in collectively helping fellow Africans face the pandemic head-on.
In recent history, other pandemics such as SARS (2002), H1N1 Swine flu (2009), and MERS (2012) did cause a global response and disruption, but it is probably fair to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a global response like never seen before, with terms such as "lockdown", "social-distancing" and "the new-normal" now part of our common vocabulary.
Indeed, many parts of Africa are scarcely populated, but according to the United Nations, around 40 to 45% of Africans live in urban areas, with many living in a number of mega-cities such as Lagos, Kinshasa, Addis Ababa, Cairo, and Johannesburg.
Since a major focus of the Makerere University team is doing research and outreach related to refugee health, much of their current focus is monitoring for Covid-19 among refugee communities and camps in the country.
These are just a few examples that show that African institutions of higher learning and many other organisations can play their part in collectively helping fellow Africans face the pandemic head-on and "rise like lions", to use the words of the renowned African poet, Ben Okri.
