LOMÉ, TOGO – The Covid-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAF-Africa) has donated 1.3 million pieces of PPE to community health workers in Togo. In partnership with Integrate Health and the Ministry of Health in Togo, CAF-Africa supplied the nation’s cadre of CHWs with the PPE needed to aid in the fight against COVID-19.
“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the importance of CHWs in the health system. Because they live in the community, they are the first people that everyone to turns to for information about the pandemic. But it is clear that they have been given very little PPE,” said Deputy Country Director of Integrate Health, Anita Kouvahey-Eklu. “We all have to learn to live with this virus, so it is essential to continue advocacy to regularly provide quality PPE to protect CHWs and to protect the communities that they serve on a daily basis.”
Together with the Togo Ministry of Health and local community health workers, CAF-Africa partner Integrate Health participated in committee meetings ensuring the country’s 11,000 CHWs would receive the required PPE to continue providing essential health services. The shipment contained 928,000 masks, and 307,940 disposable gloves and 23,400 face shields required to safeguard community health workers providing services at the last mile.
To date, CAF-Africa has committed and delivered more than 57 million pieces of PPE across a dozen African countries. CAF-Africa pools resources to secure competitive prices for quality-assured essential supplies and works with in-country partners and governments to deploy products to the last mile.
In Togo, the suite of services that community health workers deliver varies across the nation. Prior to the pandemic, Integrate Health worked with District Health Officials to support the adoption of an integrated primary care program that provides proactive community-based primary care for communities in the Northern Region of Togo, Kara.
“Access to services and care is also constrained by the weakness in our health system. This pandemic has taught us that we need to move quickly to strengthen the health system here in Togo. It has also shown the importance of mobilizing and involving communities in managing public health crises,” said Christophe Sesso Gbeleou, Integrate Health Country Director.
Including Togo, CAF-Africa has donated PPE to various countries in East, Central, and South Africa. Integrated with national responses, this is the only known effort that pools resources for PPE items specifically for community health workers in Africa