Coronavirus could hit Africa ‘like an avalanche’, expert warns

The Director of the World Health Organisation’s Center on Public Health and Human Rights, Prof Lawrence Gostin, has warned that, if left unchecked, the coronavirus could “march through” sub-Saharan Africa “like an avalanche”. 

Speaking to the BBC, Prof Gostin also said that if the virus was allowed to get ‘out of control’ in Africa and other parts of the developing world, it could have disastrous consequences for America and Europe. 

“Even if the United States and Europe were to get their Covid epidemics under control, if you've got Covid rages in other parts of the world, in this interconnected society we live in, it will come back to Europe and the United States”.

The professor warned that the West could face a second, third and even fourth wave of the coronavirus if the disease was not effectively dealt with in developing countries as well.

“We’re truly only as safe as the weakest link in the global chain”, he advised. 

Prof Gostin’s warning comes after 20 European and African leaders called for international assistance to help boost Africa’s coronavirus response. The IMF has implemented debt relief programmes for 19 African nations, to allow them to focus their resources on fighting the pandemic.

Speaking on US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to defund the WHO, Prof Gostin called the move “deeply concerning” and worried that it could have a “devastating impact globally”.

President Trump is choosing to sanction the organisation over what he called the WHO’s “dangerous and costly decision” to argue against international travel bans to combat the pandemic. 

The USA is the largest single contributor to the WHO, paying some $893 million between 2018 and 2019 - approximately 15% of the organisation’s total budget. 

Photo: AFP via Getty Images