Africa should style up as its seeks to address future public health threats

Doctors tend to a patient suffering from COVID-19 and receiving oxygen, in a ward for coronavirus patients at the Martini hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. [AP Photo]

The Covid-19 pandemic devastated the African continent in many ways economically, socially, and politically with the disruptions evident in all parts of the world.

However, like other pandemics and epidemics, Covid-19 has exposed critical failures in multilateralism and global solidarity. Africa has remained among the last in line to access necessary medical supplies and tools - from personal protective equipment to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.