COVID-19 response in the Middle East and north Africa: challenges and paths forward

摘要

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declareda pandemic on March 11, 2020; however, the firstreports of its occurrence in the Middle East and northAfrica (MENA) came from Iran in late February.1 As ofMay 6, the disease has spread across the 22 countriesin the region, with 224071 confirmed cases and8378 deaths (ie, case fatality rate of 3·7%). Thesefigures underestimate the extent of the virus’s spreadbecause of the low number of completed severe acuterespiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testsand inadequate case reporting across the region. Basedon the existing evidence, patients with COVID-19 inMENA are equally distributed within the 15–75 year agerange (median age 42 years), and the main underlyingcomorbidities are cardiovascular conditions amongwomen and diabetes among men. Although countriesworldwide are struggling with the COVID-19 response,the situation in MENA is unique because of the divisionscaused by poverty and regional conflicts.