‘Corona in Uganda’
Greetings,
On Sunday I got an email from friends in Uganda. I’d asked them how things were going for them. They replied that they are fairly OK, still under lockdown, and keeping themselves busy in their small garden. Many countries in Africa have imposed stringent forms of physical distancing. According to the Ugandan Ministry of Health website, as of today Uganda had 79 cases and no confirmed deaths. Good news, but the infrastructure is fragile: Uganda has a population of 42 million, with a mere 55 intensive care beds.
We are used to Africa and other parts of the global south bearing the brunt of diseases such as malaria, HIV, tuberculosis and ebola. We are also familiar with the ways that climate change particularly (though not exclusively) affects people in poorer places. There are clearly fears that Africa would have a devastating outbreak of the coronavirus.
As yet it is impossible to say whether Africa and other places in the global south will be spared the worst of the pandemic. There may be special reasons why infection rates are lower there, or they may be behind the curve, as the UK was behind Italy’s and Spain’s. The Financial Times yesterday had a fascinating article on this: see https://www.ft.com/content/e9cf5ed0-a590-4bd6-8c00-b41d0c4ae6e0
Let’s hope that Uganda and other countries in the global south do not see huge numbers of virus cases. But the economic outlook may be a different story. Effectively shutting down the Ugandan economy (as part of a world shutdown) means a sudden drop or complete loss of income for countless people from hairdressers to joiners, mechanics to stall-holders, factory-workers to matatu-drivers (matatus are public transport minibuses). The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Uganda has predicted that at possibly an additional 2.6 million people in Uganda may find themselves below the poverty line.
Predictions are so very difficult at this time. Of course as a global university, many St Andrews students and members of staff are drawn from the two-thirds world, and we have partnerships in Peru, Malawi and many other places. Today, let us spare a thought for our friends in the global south, people we know and those we don’t, who are facing this pandemic as we are, but in an immense variety of unique circumstances.
Here is a wonderful 2 minute song from Ugandan MP, activist and musician Bobi Wine featuring Nubian Lee about the coronavirus with helpful advice on personal hygiene. That guitar sound takes me back to my visit to Masaka in Uganda in 1995….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKY9AKuJNqI
Masaka, Uganda, before the lockdown:
And to finish today, the invitation to Compline tomorrow evening:
Donald MacEwan is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Compline Online
Time: Apr 30, 2020 09:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98251071193?pwd=WnlQcWZpMGFWTk9IV1ZhZk5KV3I3QT09
Meeting ID: 982 5107 1193
Password: 8dsfE6
Yours,
Donald.