Successful health interventions need community engagement

A nurse prepares a vaccine to administer to a patient [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Less than two years after the first Covid-19 case was reported in China, the pandemic has been rated among the 10 deadliest plagues in history, having infected over 213 million people and causing the deaths of nearly 4.5 million others around the world–a number that is expected to keep growing as new variants develop and the rate of vaccination especially in developing countries remains far below global targets.

The Covid-19 pandemic adds to the growing list of public health emergencies that require massive cooperation and coordination–from high level policymakers and political heads to community leaders and grassroots mobilisers.