Dr Eric Aghan graduated from AKU with a Master of Medicine degree in Family Medicine and returned as a Family Physician Specialist. He is currently the Director, Postgraduate Studies at the Medical College in Tanzania. Before he pursued a postgraduate degree in medicine, he worked with Medicine San Frontiers (MSF) as the Medical Coordinator for the Homa-Bay County HIV program. It is in that role that he learned how to manage complex patients and raised the desire to pursue Family Medicine.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Tanzania in March, the country went into lockdown but recently opened up institutions of learning and eased restrictions in movement. Dr Aghan shares how the campus in Dar es Salaam is coping in the global pandemic.

I am a frontline worker and I attend to and treat suspected COVID-19 patients’ in our clinic. I am part of the tele-consulting team that is helping COVID-19 patients who are stable and only require remote support. In addition, I also attend to our regular patients who need care but are afraid to come to the hospital due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Secondly, I have been training the outreach staff on COVID-19 mitigation measures and carrying regular surveillance with the Chair of Department of Family Medicine to ensure adherence to safety standards. So far, this has been very successful as we currently have 12 active outreach centers and we have visited each facility to ensure that they adhere to our COVID-19 guidelines. 

Lastly, I am also involved with the mental health component, which is key for our healthcare and frontline workers who need help during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an institution, the management has taken bold steps towards providing guidance and advice to ensure that we properly look after our mental health during this pandemic.  

It’s important to note that COVID-19 is here with us for an unlimited period, thus, we need to accept that it’s our ‘new normal’ where continuity of care for our regular patients should take precedent. Training and widening the number of skilled staff who can efficiently respond to COVID-19 patient is still critical. We have witnessed the health systems of developed countries stretched to a breaking point by the sheer numbers of COVID-19 cases and as a region, we need to prepare ourselves for any eventuality. 

In addition, empowering our healthcare staff to stay safe and healthy during this period will enable us win this war in the long run. This is important as we have witnessed thousands of health care workers being infected in countries with huge COVID-19 cases. Locally, managing suspected COVID-19 cases online will help to decongest the already stretched health system. In my view, the more we manage stable cases through telemedicine, the better we can fight this pandemic. 

My view is a bit controversial. I have never supported blanket lockdown. This was useful at the beginning of the pandemic. Currently, almost all the countries are affected, thus, this is water under the bridge and what we need now is an approach that is highly measured. Understanding our individual country’s demography is very critical in flattening the curve.

The key risks for the East Africa region is the prevalence of chronic diseases that makes us more vulnerable such as HIV/AIDS, hypertension, diabetes and asthma not to forget malnutrition. We still can protect our population by implementing effective emergency policies aimed at stemming both primary and secondary COVID-19 prevention measures. For example, emergent policies on universal screening and antibodies detection to determine how many people can develop immunity. Economic support policies to protect and prevent job losses and minimize economic meltdown will also be critical during this period.

On a light note, I will be surprised this year to hear cases of cholera outbreak! Many African leaders need to focus on strengthening the already neglected local healthcare systems and infrastructure, ranging from primary to tertiary healthcare, to meet the demands of COVID-19 and other healthcare needs of the population. We have seen that many African countries lack the capacity to test for COVID-19 cases, isolate patients with confirmed cases or suspected cases and treat those with severe COVId-19 cases. Probably, the COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst that was required to jolt all of us from slumber land. 

This pandemic will make us appreciate each other more and realize that money and wealth is nothing but humanity is everything. Honestly speaking, personal hygiene will improve significantly and I think we need to maintain the habit of washing our hands, sanitizing and wearing of mask even after the pandemic. 

The greatest lesson will be how to strengthen our institutions of higher learning to enable them respond to the health challenges of the 21st centuries and the emergence of pandemics such as COVID-19. In addition, stakeholders in the healthcare sector especially the government should invest more in strengthening our healthcare system to ensure that we are better prepared for the next pandemic.