NAIROBI, KENYA-The Rockefeller Foundation has announced a new grant of US$12 million to the Africa Public Health Foundation to help expand the geographic coverage of testing and to strengthen contact tracing for COVID-19 in Africa through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

1. The RockefellerFoundationAnnouncesGranttoExpandAccessto COVID-19Testingand Tracingin
Africa
NAIROBI,KENYA-The RockefellerFoundationhasannouncedanew grantof US$12 milliontothe
AfricaPublicHealthFoundationtohelpexpandthe geographic coverage of testingandtostrengthen
contact tracing forCOVID-19 inAfricathroughthe AfricaCentresforDisease Control andPrevention
(AfricaCDC).
“Equitable accesstotestingandtracing isessential torapidlyidentifyandrespondtoCOVID-19
outbreaksuntil avaccine iswidelyavailable toall,”saidRajivJ.Shah,Presidentof The Rockefeller
Foundation.“One yearintothe COVID-19pandemic,toomanypeople still donothave accessto the
toolsthat theyneedtokeepthemselves,theirfamilies,andtheircommunitieshealthyandsafe.
We’re pleasedtoworkwiththe AfricaPublicHealthFoundationandAfricaCDCto catalyse a more
efficientandinclusive response toandrecoveryfromthe COVID-19pandemicacrossthe continent.”
Thisfundingwill supportabroaderefforttoaccelerate equitable accesstotestingtechnologies,
increase testingof asymptomaticpersons,andreducingcommunitytransmissionof SARS-CoV-2in
the sub-SaharanAfricaregion.
Until date,more than three millionCOVID-19caseshave beenreportedinAfrica,withthe current
dailyaverage of newcasesinthe secondwave surpassingthatof the firstwave.
Testingandtracing remaintwoof the strongestpublichealthinterventionsforcontainingCOVID-19
on thiscontinentof about1.3 billionpeople.Yet,onlyalittle above30 milliontestshave been
reportedsince the beginningof the pandemic.Byscalinguptestingandtracing,healthauthorities
on the continentwill have accesstomore reliableepidemiologicdatatoadvise governments,
businessesandthe publiconhowto bettermanage the pandemicandmitigate itssocioeconomic
impact.
“Testingisthe numberone tool to fightthispandemicbecause withouttestingwe willbe fighting
blindly,”saidDrJohnNkengasong,Directorof AfricaCDC.“We alsoneedto trace people whoare
infected,isolate themandtreatthem.BysupportingAfricanUnionMemberStatestodomore
testingandtracing toidentifyandisolate infectedpersons,we will be able tocontrol the virusand
limittransmission.”
Throughthe PartnershiptoAccelerate COVID-19Testing(PACT),aninitiative rolledoutinAugustlast
year,AfricaCDC isestablishingpartnershipsacrossthe globe tomobilizetechnical,materialand
financial resourcestosupportAfricanUnion MemberStatesinexpandingtesting,tracingand
treatmentforCOVID-19.Thisgrant will contribute tothe implementationof PACTacrossthe
continent.
The grant will alsohelpincrease accesstotestinginurbanandrural areas,strengthencommunity
level contacttracing,enhance datainfrastructure andaccelerate screeningandcase findinginhigh-
riskpopulations.
Dr Francisco Songane,InterimCEOof the AfricaPublicHealthFoundationsaid:“The AfricaPublic
HealthFoundationissincerelygrateful forthe leadershipandsupportof the teamat The Rockefeller
Foundation.Itisour missiontoforge partnershipsandmobilise resourcesforAfricaCDC.Infacing
the COVID-19 pandemic,thiskindof collaborationisneededmore thanever.”

2. “Scalingup testingandtracingfor the mostat-riskpopulationsisacritical piece of The Rockefeller
Foundation’seffortstosupportanequitable pandemicresponse onthe continent,”saidWilliam
Asiko,ManagingDirectorof the AfricaRegional Office,The RockefellerFoundation.“Aswe await
widespreadvaccinations,investingintesting,tracing,andpubliceducationaboutphysicaldistancing
and mask-wearingare the besttoolswe have to addressAfrica’smosturgentneedsnow and
strengthenthe systemswe needtoprotectourselvesfromfuture threats.”
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