Invitation from the African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine to submit short reports on responses to Covid-19 in Africa 

Submission due date: Ongoing

As the Covid-19 (Cv19) pandemic evolves globally, we are beginning to realize its impact on communities, either because of the disease itself or the measures being taken to limit the spread of infection. Many countries in Africa have seen the numbers of cases rise following imported cases from residents returning from holidays in Europe or the USA. Our efforts have been hampered by having few virus PCR test kits to do thorough case-finding and contact tracing. There are lessons to be learnt from previous epidemics of Ebola, cholera, HIV and even the 1918 flu pandemic which left 500 000 people in South Africa dead. Many governments have gone into lockdown to limit the spread of Cv19 but with catastrophic effects on poorer people who rely on day to day earnings to buy food and pay rent. But through all these challenges, the reflections and debates on what actions are needed to protect communities from these recurrent traumas may potentially radically change the way we interact as societies, how we use technology to educate and communicate, how to make the health system more responsive to the needs of communities.

With this in mind the African Journal of PHCFM would like to invite authors to submit short reports (800-1000 words max) which focus on Covid-19, primary health care and family medicine in Africa. These reports could include descriptions of :

• Innovations or best practice in tackling the epidemic that can be shared
• Examples of how PHC systems or services are coping/re-organising in different countries
• Responses from communities in reaction to the Covid-19 epidemic and how these impact on health and health care
• The contributions of family physicians to the response to Covid-19
• Clinical management of Covid-19 in district health services (including primary care).

Reports should be of value and interest to readers in other countries in the region.

The format of the report should include an unstructured abstract up to 250 words followed by structured text with appropriate sub-headings (800-1000 words).

These should not be original research articles, which will have to follow the usual submission channels and require ethics approval.

Thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely,

Prof Bob Mash (Editor-in-Chief)