A cross-border data collaboration project involving 23 African countries above the Equator is proving to be a game-changer for the tracking and management of COVID-19 and other epidemic-prone diseases in the region – and is launching the first ever daily public COVID dashboard for countries in the Horn of Africa next month.
The USAID-funded Regional Action Through Data (RAD) programme is tackling COVID-19 in West and East Africa through two initiatives, respectively involving the sharing of real-time regional disease data online and tech-enabled cross-border immunisations. These initiatives are enabling governments to better collaborate to protect their roving pastoral populations from epidemics and to overcome the data issues of the Ebola era.