June 22, 2021: The ARISE Network is a collaboration between Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard-affiliated Africa Academy of Public Health and public health research and training institutions from nine countries across the African region. It serves as a platform for robust research and cutting-edge education in the region. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the globe in 2020, the Network assembled to address important evidence gaps on the pandemic’s health and economic consequences in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Network established a novel mobile survey platform in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria to conduct longitudinal surveillance for evidence generation on knowledge and practices related to COVID-19 prevention and management, and the impact of the outbreak on other health domains including nutrition and food security. Using this platform, a baseline survey among 900 healthcare workers, 1,797 adolescents, and 1,795 adults in six urban and rural sites was conducted. Plans for a second survey around vaccine readiness are underway. Findings from the baseline survey highlight deficiencies in COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices among these population groups and demonstrate serious consequences of COVID-19 on domains including nutrition and food security; education for adolescents; and healthcare access and utilization. To disseminate these findings for maximum impact for policy and programs, the Network has also summarized the key results of the survey in five policy briefs (linked below). You can view the COVID-19 survey (linked) and see the briefs below:
Nutrition and Food Security Brief (linked)
Adolescent Experiences Brief (linked)
Health Service Utilization Brief (linked)
Adult Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices Brief (linked)
Health Worker Experiences Brief (linked)
The Africa Research, Implementation Science and Education (ARISE) Network’s main findings highlight the potential impact of COVID-19 on food systems including price increases for staples, pulses, fruits, vegetables and animal source foods and decreased consumption of diverse and quality diets. The study found evidence of disruption in schooling for most adolescents surveyed, with many not accessing education materials during the height of the pandemic. Disruptions of essential health services due to COVID-19 restrictions were common, including child and maternal health services, and HIV and surgical services, with governmental health facilities most affected. ARISE also found that knowledge about COVID-19 was high among health workers and adults. However, among adults (not including health workers) misconceptions about COVID-19 transmission were prevalent and adherence to recommended prevention measures was low. Finally, this study found that at least 18% of healthcare providers and 20% of adults reported mild or higher levels of psychological distress during the pandemic. These findings help address the knowledge gaps regarding the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 on various population groups in both rural and urban areas across multiple countries in SSA and can inform the development of evidence-based strategies and public policy to mitigate against health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. The survey was conducted with support from the Harvard Center for African Studies, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Heidelberg Institute of Global Health. Additional collaborating institutions involved in the first survey round include the Addis Continental Institute of Public Health (Ethiopia), Haramaya University (Ethiopia), Nouna Health Research Center (Burkina Faso), University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), and University of Ibadan (Nigeria).