The coronavirus pandemic has exposed brutally, the weaknesses of systems in addressing a pandemic. By far, over 2 million people have contracted the virus which has claimed over one hundred thousand lives. Epidemiologists are projecting an increase in the number of deaths and cases. The United States alone is projecting an infection of 15% of the population. Furthermore, the pandemic is having a detrimental impact on social life and economic growth.
Clearly, we are facing an existential threat. The manner and way with which leaders address this pandemic is key to determining the efficacy of each response. Some countries have succeeded in effectively mitigating the spread of the virus whilst others such as Spain and the United States continue to see a surge in the number of cases.
Gambia has so far done nothing in addressing COVID -19. However, various systemic weaknesses have limited the effectiveness of this fight in the country. Without the benefit of the Health Promotion Unit of the Ministry of Health, the efforts at addressing COVID -19 has been largely fragmented. A unit such as this would have played a leading role in coordinating a national approach in tackling the pandemic.
Secondly, the country does not have a robust data system where it can identify the locations of vulnerable groups for contract tracing and distribution of food items. This has led to chaos in various interventions counterintuitive to social distancing.
When it comes to fighting COVID-19 in The Gambia, ideological systems such as Capitalism, Socialism, Neoliberalism, etc. although impacting responses have been limited. Some of the most effective responses have largely been influenced by the President of the Republic.
Whilst information is key in fighting a pandemic, the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE) has over the years been under-resourced. This has weakened its capacity to educate the public on the importance of social distancing and preventive measures against COVID -19. For this reason, a huge part of the population is under informed on the measures and directives for addressing COVID -19. This pandemic necessitates a lot of work in public education that cannot be shouldered entirely by the health ministry. The NCCE with offices across the country could have played a much larger role in undertaking public sensitization and awareness campaigns to bolster current efforts.
As a country it behooves on us to assess our model thus far to identify its challenges in addressing the pandemic. Additionally, we ought to take lessons from other countries to lace with our approach. Moving forward, priority must be placed on improving systems including establishing a national disease control authority, resourcing the NCCE and improving infrastructure including transportation and markets. In the absence of vaccines and treatments, the fight against COVID -19 remains social.