Even before COVID-19, there were many preventable deaths of women and children in Africa who were unable to benefit from the faster progress seen elsewhere in the world towards reaching the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sub-Saharan African (SSA) still accounts for more than two-thirds of maternal deaths worldwide, and it will take a further two decades for it to reach today’s global average for deaths of children under five.
Inequities are seen in other ways too. Although only 6% of the world’s population live in East and Southern Africa, the region accounts for over half of all people living with HIV. And throughout SSA, young women and girls are most at risk – representing 10% of the population but accounting for almost a quarter of new HIV infections.