Methods: Secondary data that included patients' demographics, BP, and data on medicines availability of the intervention group from a 3 months' operational study conducted in rural PHC facilities in South Africa were analyzed. The association between medicines availability, the number of antihypertensive medicines, and BP control was explored.
Findings: Fifty-five African patients (89.1% females) with a mean age of 61.3 years were included. Two-thirds (67.2%) received all their medicines during their monthly visits, 25.5% received some, and for 7.3%, there was no record of whether medicines were dispensed or not. Patients with controlled BP (60.0%) were more likely to have been prescribed only one antihypertensive medicine compared to patients with uncontrolled BP (20.7%) (P = 0.017; odds ratio: 5.75; 95% confidence interval: 1.46, 22.61).
Conclusion: It is concerning that one-third of patients went home without all of their antihypertensive medicines from PHC facilities in this Province of South Africa where there is evidence of use of herbal medicines and uncontrolled BP contributing to high morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Additional studies are needed to fully explore the association between medicines availability, their use, and BP control among patients.
Objective: Document current prevalence and mortality rates from COVID-19 alongside economic and other measures to reduce its spread and impact across Africa. In addition, suggested ways forward among all key stakeholder groups.
Our Approach: Contextualise the findings from a wide range of publications including internet-based publications coupled with input from senior-level personnel.
Ongoing Activities: Prevalence and mortality rates are currently lower in Africa than among several Western countries and the USA. This could be due to a number of factors including early instigation of lockdown and border closures, the younger age of the population, lack of robust reporting systems and as yet unidentified genetic and other factors. Innovation is accelerating to address concerns with available equipment. There are ongoing steps to address the level of misinformation and its consequences including fines. There are also ongoing initiatives across Africa to start addressing the unintended consequences of COVID-19 activities including lockdown measures and their impact on NCDs including the likely rise in mental health disorders, exacerbated by increasing stigma associated with COVID-19. Strategies include extending prescription lengths, telemedicine and encouraging vaccination. However, these need to be accelerated to prevent increased morbidity and mortality.
Conclusion: There are multiple activities across Africa to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and address misinformation, which can have catastrophic consequences, assisted by the WHO and others, which appear to be working in a number of countries. Research is ongoing to clarify the unintended consequences given ongoing concerns to guide future activities. Countries are learning from each other.