The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed serious challenges for African countries to provide PPE (Personal Protective equipment) for their healthcare workforce, one of the main reasons being that the majority of the PPE used in Africa is manufactured outside the continent.

The high demand for PPE coupled with restrictive measures at a global scale induced major difficulties to source the amount of PPE needed from foreign companies. The companies producing PPE are already facing a high demand for the health workers of their own countries.

The COVID-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAF-Africa) is a PPE initiative for community health workers. This collaborative platform includes over 30 organizations dedicated to protecting CHWs (Community Health Workers), the main actors in Africa’s COVID-19 response.

Their modus operandi: Match donated PPE with government-identified gaps and conduct end-use verification processes with in-country partners to document arrival and distribution of the supplies.

One of the major strengths of this initiative is the integrative approach with national responses and the focus on supporting the remarkable work of CHWs, the people at the frontline incombating this pandemic and the saving of millions of lives.

So far, thanks to the joined efforts of CAF-Africa members, over 57,050,300 PPE have been committed and delivered and over 927,300 CHWs were supported in more than 20 countries. 

The final goal of CAF-Africa is to raise $100 million to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to CHWs in over 20 African countries, with a reserve of approximately one year’s supply of PPE.

If you want to support this intiative: https://cafafrica.org/