Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has required constant collaboration and adaptation. And while the goal of the COVID-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAF-Africa) has remained the same we have had to adapt as well.
When CAF-Africa released its year one report in July 2021, we thought the effort was winding down. But with new variants and limited vaccine access in sub-Saharan Africa when funders approached us to provide more personal protective equipment (PPE) to community health workers (CHWs) we acted immediately. This new funding allowed CAF-Africa to procure and distribute additional pieces of PPE – increasing the initiative’s overall impact to delivering 121 million pieces of PPE.
The CAF-Africa initiative was a “radically collaborative” effort of over 30 organizations working together since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative was created as a stop-gap to rapidly scale up procurement and delivery of PPE to CHWs, becoming the fifth largest procurer of PPE in the world in 2020 and the only initiative specifically focused on CHWs. As this initiative winds down, CAF-Africa has distributed critical PPE to nearly 480,000 across 18 African countries. As a cadre of frontline health workers, CHWs provide critical access to health services for many Africans, but are often the last in line to receive PPE. CAF-Africa’s original advocacy message still stands today: PPE needs to be given based on the health care provided, not the health care provider.
While CAF-Africa comes to a close, its partners are still doing important work. We encourage you to stay engaged with CAF-Africa partner efforts so together we can continue to collaborate and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future global health emergencies.
Community Health Impact Coalition: continues to drive progress on systems-level work to ensure that CHWs are recognized as a critical part of health systems. See their latest guidance on developing CHW registries #CountCHWs.
Pandemic Action Network: continues to lead and support policy and advocacy efforts by diverse partners to end the COVID-19 crisis for everyone around the world and ensure future pandemic preparedness, including advocacy for sufficient PPE supplies globally. See the Network’s latest news and advocacy statements. Contact the Network regarding opportunities to advance reliable and sustainable emergency response supplies for frontline health care workers.
Direct Relief: continues to be a resource for CAF-Africa partner countries seeking supplies for humanitarian relief. Stay engaged with Direct Relief and its global response to COVID-19.
Learn more about their latest emergency response efforts.
