The African Union’s (AU’s) new Covid-19 response fund has received a R450-million (£20-million) injection from the UK in the fight against the virus, making it the fund’s largest national donor.

The donation will help support the training, recruiting and deployment of African health experts, strengthen global tracking, provide specialist Covid-19 training for health workers and make information more accessible to the public.

The recent donation brings the total UK aid contribution to fighting coronavirus to up to £764-million ($935.6-million).

Announcing the funding, the UK’s International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said it has never been more important for the UK to work with its African partners in the fight against the disease.

“No one is safe until we are all safe and this new funding and support for African leadership will help protect us all – in the UK, Africa and around the world – from further spread of the virus,” she said.

Trevelyan says the UK is also using its existing aid programmes to help vulnerable countries in Africa to strengthen their health systems.

The high occurrence of HIV, malnutrition and other illnesses in parts of Africa may also worsen the impact of the virus.

She warned that if African healthcare systems become overwhelmed, the worldwide spread of the virus will be difficult to slow, risking new waves of infection.

The UK recently hosted the virtual Global Vaccine Summit to secure future funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has already saved the lives of millions of children in Africa from infectious diseases.