Globally, forecasting is rapidly gaining acceptance in healthcare and its use in public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic has been beneficial to improve emergency preparedness and response towards the pandemic, particularly during the early and peak phases.

Despite these benefits, forecasting capacity, largely in terms of expertise and support systems, remains significantly limited in Africa, where the burden of public health emergencies is highest.

Given the syndemics understanding of public health emergencies as extended by the COVID-19 pandemic, we shared our viewpoint on the need to develop a sustainable forecasting capacity in the African region for better health and social outcomes during and after public health emergencies in the region, and globally.

Source: British Medical Journal