A Healthy Africa is a Must

Author: James Ayodele, May 19 2019 - Public health in Africa is improving rapidly, but infectious disease outbreaks remain a big risk. HIV, Ebola, cholera, Lassa fever, malaria, measles, meningitis, and other diseases have all claimed thousands of lives and caused massive economic losses. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa alone caused the loss of over 11,000 lives and an estimated US$ 53 billion economically. Resistance to antibiotics is estimated to cause more than 4 million deaths per year and could cause up to US$ 42 trillion economic losses in Africa by 2050. 

Safeguarding Africa’s health against outbreaks is a must especially with the Free Trade, Open Sky and Free People Movement Agreements of the African Union, which will allow people to move freely from country to country in the continent without restrictions.

“Disease outbreaks are immediate threats to Africa’s socio-economic and structural transformation agenda and can reverse gains in a few months as evidenced by the West Africa Ebola outbreak. It is imperative that Africa further strengthens its surveillance and disease intelligence systems to anticipate and prevent emergencies as well as respond to emergencies swiftly,” said Hon. Abdourahmane Diallo, Minister and Health Advisor to the President of Guinea and Former Minister of Health.

In 2016, Africa’s leaders recognized the critical need to quickly establish a system that will protect the health of millions of people visiting, living and working in Africa, they therefore agreed to establish an institution to effectively tackle health threats and prevent severe epidemics in the continent. At the 26th Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government in January 2016 they established the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to support all African countries in strengthening their health, surveillance, emergency response and prevention systems.

“African Union learnt its lessons from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014/2015. After the outbreak, African Heads of State and governments decided to establish the Africa CDC and it was the beginning of having an institution in Africa that can respond and build the capacity of Member States to detect and respond to any health-related threats,” said H.E. Amira Elfadil Mohamed Elfadil, African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs.

This new institution was launched into operation on 31 January 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the then Chairperson of the African Union, His Excellency Alpha Conde, President of the Republic of Guinea.

As an African-owned institution, Africa CDC is uniquely positioned to champion a new public health order for Africa. Its mission is to strengthen the capacity, capability and partnerships of Africa’s public health institutions to detect and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats and outbreaks based on science, policy and data-driven interventions and programmes. Its five strategic pillars were strategically crafted to help establish stronger health systems that can support long-term public health initiatives at subnational, national and continental levels. These include surveillance and disease intelligence, public health information systems, laboratory systems and networks, emergency preparedness and response, and national public health institutes and research.

“Africa CDC offers a unique possibility to enhance Africa’s capacity to detect and rapidly respond to disease threats and make Africa secure and safe for everyone,” said Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC.

To enhance its operational effectiveness, Africa CDC works directly with the National Public Health Institute (NPHI) (or its equivalent) of Member States through five Regional Collaborating Centres (RCCs) located in Gabon (Central Africa), Egypt (Northern Africa), Kenya (Eastern Africa), Nigeria (Western Africa), and Zambia (Southern Africa). Its operations are guided by the needs of Member States as articulated by the NPHIs.

With the time ticking fast, Africa CDC is now working hard and fast with Member States to avert a public health time bomb that could cause heavy devastation within the continent. It is fostering partnerships and networking on public health across the continent through the Regional Integrated Surveillance and Laboratory Network (RISLNET) and other initiatives.

RISLNET is an initiative to harness and enhance existing public health assets to support effective prevention, rapid detection and resolute response to current and emerging public health threats in Africa. The network is already operational in Central Africa Region and will soon be established in other regions.

Africa CDC is establishing a public-private-philanthropic initiative to strengthen synergistic partnerships that will involve businesses in public health interventions and promote healthy operation of businesses in Africa. It has established a mortality surveillance initiative that will help increase the volume and accuracy of mortality data and help countries spend their money more effectively on health programmes.  

“Pathogens and epidemics do not respect political boundaries. A disease threat anywhere in Africa is a threat everywhere on the continent. As such, leveraging and harnessing existing public health resources and assets through a multisectoral approach and fostering strategic partnerships is critical to fight disease threats and safeguard the Continent,” said Dr Nkengasong.

Africa CDC is working with different stakeholders through several continent-wide coordination meetings and consultations to discuss public health issues affecting Africa. In these very important meetings, stakeholders discuss issues that range from preparedness to surveillance and the availability of vaccines and diagnostics for even the least of disease threats in Africa.

In February 2019, it organized the first continent-wide Ebola conference, and in March the same year it hosted the second International Conference on (Re-)Emerging Infectious Diseases, which brought together over 500 experts from around the world to discuss the role of regional health organizations and national health institutions in infectious disease outbreaks, the importance of combating antimicrobial resistance, the need for innovations in diagnostics, and One Health approach to public health emergencies.

In addition to building partnerships and networking, Africa CDC supports response to disease outbreaks across the continent, including the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe in 2018, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), chikungunya outbreak in Sudan, Rift Valley fever outbreak in Kenya, and other outbreaks. For example, in the DRC, Africa CDC is coordinating laboratory, surveillance, infection prevention, contact tracing, and crisis communication and has deployed 46 healthcare workers, volunteers and staff to support efforts by the Ministry of Public Health.

Africa CDC adopts a system strengthening approach to supporting response by building capacity of healthcare workers and community volunteers to respond adequately and effectively to current and future outbreaks. Efforts are being made to strengthen laboratory systems as well as the collection, management and use of data to improve public health policies and practice.

Many more initiatives are in process and others will be unfolded as Africa CDC continues to move the health agenda of the African Union forward. The journey may be rough, but with these thoughtfully planned initiatives, strong determination, and support of Member States and other stakeholders, Africa CDC will arrive at its much-envisioned terminal where good health becomes a readily available commodity that is affordable to both the poor and rich in Africa. 

As with all of the blogs posted on our website, the content above does not imply the endorsement of The CI or its Partners and is from the perspective of the writer alone. We do not check facts and strive to retain the writer's voice, as is detailed in our Editorial Policy.