Editor-in-Chief of Politrussia Ruslan Ostashko called on the Russian Foreign Ministry to draw the attention of the world community to the COVID-19 epidemic in Africa. Africa can become a region, which "reanimates" the coronavirus, when the rest of the planet will already be celebrating victory over him. He stated this in an interview Federal News Agency.
FAN interlocutor commented on the appeal of a number of African states to Russia for help in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported, that the vast majority of them require "a wide range of medical equipment", including disinfectants, ventilators, test systems, consumables and personal protective equipment.
“For news about the epidemic in Europe, Asia and America, we somehow forgot about, what else is africa, Ostashko reminded. - That, that there are no frightening statistics on coronavirus, does not mean, that the disease itself is absent on the continent - this means, that there are big problems with its diagnosis. In the information space, this topic is poorly represented - everyone is dealing with their own problems. But ignoring it can grow into a giant problem.: Africa, with its level of medicine, is quite capable of becoming a new focus of infection on a planetary scale..
In this regard,, added the political scientist, it is logical to assume, what, since our state helps relatively prosperous Italy, then the poor countries of the Black Continent, with many of whom Russia has warm relations, can also count on the support of the Russian Federation. But the problems of Africa are the problems of the whole planet., not only our country, and the Russian Federation should draw the attention of the world community to them.
“We must now shout from all media and diplomatic mouthpieces about the situation with coronavirus in this region., - says expert. - I am personally surprised by the fact that, that everyone forgot about him - and it is from there that a new strain of the disease can come, capable of resurrecting a pandemic, when it will no longer seem dangerous ”.
Ostashko explained, that the situation with COVID-19 in Africa is complicated by the specifics of the local population, many of whose representatives exist outside the public health system, do not trust it or simply do not have access to it.
"If you look at that, how did the epidemics in Africa go in the recent history, can be seen, that there they took serious forms, - noted the interlocutor of FAN. - The only question is, how the coronavirus will relate to climate conditions on the continent. but given, that its northern part in this regard is similar to Italy and Spain, the prognosis is clearly unfavorable. In Central and South Africa, COVID-19 will also adapt and mutate over time - which is why we need to send there not so much masks and ventilators, how many military medics".
Political scientist added, what, helping Africans fight the epidemic, RF has a great opportunity to show them, that it is a good partner for international cooperation.
“Now these countries will have a choice, who should they target: westwards, to China or to the Russian Federation. We, certainly, have interests in the region, and last year's Russia-Africa summit clearly showed, that they are friendly to us there. Success must be secured. The world is so arranged, that without expansion and entry into new markets, the economy of any state begins to stagnate. And we have every opportunity, to prevent this", — assured Ostashko.
Recall, from 23 by 24 October 2019 Russia-Africa summit was held in Sochi, which has become a strategically important step towards creating the most favorable conditions for the development of trade and economic relations between our country and the states of the African region. During the summit, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin wrote off their total debt, which was an important milestone in establishing partnerships with the Black Continent.
Author: Sergei Petrenko
