African Leaders Emphasize Africa CDC’s Role in Strengthening Health Security

ADDIS ABABA, Xinhua: African leaders have emphasized the critical role of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), recognizing it as the continent’s leading public health agency.

This came as the Committee of Heads of State and Government of the Africa CDC convened an extraordinary virtual session on the margins of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which brought together leaders of African Union (AU) members to deliberate on urgent priorities for Africa’s health security and sovereignty, according to an Africa CDC statement issued late Monday.

They underscored a collective call for stronger solidarity, sustainable financing, and enhanced collaboration to protect the wider African populations from recurrent and emerging health threats.

Mandating the AU’s specialized public health agency to continue mobilizing unified African positions in global forums, the committee also urged AU members and partners to expedite domestic and innovative health financing in accordance with the Africa CDC’s framework.

They reaffirmed support for the Africa CDC’s leadership in coordinating outbreak response, accelerating the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism, scaling up local manufacturing, and operationalizing the African Medicines Agency to advance regulatory harmonization.

Commending the voluntary contributions of AU members, they also expressed concerns over persistent financing gaps that undermine the Africa CDC’s mandate, and agreed on the need to mobilize former African heads of state to champion the agency’s fundraising efforts.

Established in January 2016 by African leaders and officially launched a year later, the Africa CDC has gained acclaim for its contributions to improving public healthcare in Africa. The Chinese-built Africa CDC headquarters in the southern suburb of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa was officially inaugurated in January 2023, which is regarded as a flagship project in China-Africa public health cooperation.