Overview

The responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in African countries have not received the same media attention, comment or reflection as in Northern countries or countries in Asia where the new virus first appeared. The prospects for the continent of a crisis of even greater proportions than that which strikes Europe, the United States or Brazil tend to make invisible both the historical conditions and the specific problems which can potentiate the effects of the pandemic in a continent which coexists with the endemic presence of diseases such as malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis, as well as enormous political, economic, social and environmental challenges, but also the innovations and creativity of initiatives which, in the face of the limitations or precariousness of health systems, mobilize the resources and capacities existing in society, seek to respond to the situation. This article draws particular attention to the Senegal, Ghana and Madagascar’s responses to the pandemic.