This opinion commentary on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brings together observations from Zimbabwe specifically, and Africa broadly, drawing from the fields of pharmacogenomics, precision herbal medicine, and responsible innovation so as to respond to the pandemic in ways that are efficient, critically informed, principled, and responsive to needs in rural and urban communities across Africa. With new findings suggesting that COVID-19 is a systemic disease, impacting the respiratory system and beyond in some individuals, we need new molecular targets for therapeutics innovation more than ever. We argue that the current pandemic will likely strip the limited resources from other diseases such as malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and among others affecting the African continent. Hence, we need to address not only COVID-19 but also its broader health care and societal impacts in Africa. Extensive diagnostic testing to trace and isolate the COVID-19 cases as well as basic income and economic support for those who are unable to work will be needed. A critically informed and democratic governance that builds on transparency and trust for the elected leaders is crucial. Finally, the pandemic offers a silver lining for Africa: the prospects to integrate omics research with long-standing expertise in herbal medicine in Africa, thus accelerating the advances toward novel molecular therapeutic targets for COVID-19 and precision herbal medicine worldwide.

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COVID-19大流行与非洲：从津巴布韦的情况到精密草药的案例

这篇有关2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行的意见评论特别从津巴布韦乃至整个非洲收集了观察到的观点，借鉴了药物基因组学，精密草药和负责任的创新等领域，以便以各种方式应对大流行高效，严格掌握情况，有原则并能对非洲农村和城市社区的需求做出反应。新发现表明COVID-19是一种系统性疾病，影响呼吸系统乃至某些个体，因此我们比以往任何时候都更需要新的分子靶点来进行治疗创新。我们认为，当前的大流行病可能会将有限的资源从疟疾，人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染等其他疾病中夺走，以及其他影响非洲大陆的疾病。因此，我们不仅需要解决COVID-19，还需要解决其在非洲的更广泛的医疗保健和社会影响。将需要进行广泛的诊断测试，以追踪和隔离COVID-19病例，并为无法工作的人提供基本收入和经济支持。建立在民选领导人的透明度和信任基础上的关键信息和民主治理至关重要。最后，大流行为非洲提供了一线希望：将组学研究与非洲草药的长期专业知识相结合的前景，从而加速了向全球范围内针对COVID-19和精密草药的新型分子治疗靶标的进展。需要进行广泛的诊断测试，以追踪和隔离COVID-19病例，并为无法工作的人提供基本收入和经济支持。建立在民选领导人的透明度和信任基础上的关键信息和民主治理至关重要。最后，这一大流行为非洲提供了一线希望：将组学研究与非洲草药的长期专业知识相结合的前景，从而加速了全球范围内针对COVID-19和精密草药的新型分子治疗靶标的进展。需要进行广泛的诊断测试，以追踪和隔离COVID-19病例，并为无法工作的人提供基本收入和经济支持。建立在民选领导人的透明度和信任基础上的关键信息和民主治理至关重要。最后，大流行为非洲提供了一线希望：将组学研究与非洲草药的长期专业知识相结合的前景，从而加速了向全球范围内针对COVID-19和精密草药的新型分子治疗靶标的进展。