Only 1 African country ready to respond to public health emergency – CDC

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (AfricaCDC) says only one country is ready to respond to public health emergency.

The Director-General of the Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, said this in Lusaka, Zambia at the third International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) holding from Nov. 27 to Nov.30.

Kaseya spoke during a side event to unveil a five-year strategic plan for strengthening public health emergency operations centres in Africa and countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region on Thursday.

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He said the only African country ready to respond to public health emergency was South Africa.

He urged members states to accelerate measures and mechanisms to enhance responses to public health emergency.

Kaseya explained that absence of preparedness from other countries exposes all countries in the Africa region to risks of outbreaks if any occurs.

“If we want to consider the score for vulnerability, how countries are rated, ready, well prepared to respond to outbreaks, only one country in Africa is ready.

“It means all other countries are at risk. If we know that, then we can say we are all exposed.

“The Africa region is facing an average of two to three outbreaks per week.

“From January to November 2023, we already have 158 public health emergencies that we are managing.

“You can imagine, we are out of COVID-19 but we still have other 158 public health emergencies.

“The only way to prevent and respond to outbreaks is through strong Public Health Emergency Operation Centres (PHEOCs),’’ he said.

He noted that there were still gaps to be filled as disparity still exists.

He, however, said some progress had been recorded in strengthening emergency preparedness and response but called for partnerships to foster the implementation of the five-year strategic plan.

“The disparity that we see is calling us to have a strong partnership.

“This is why we are calling all of our colleagues, all of our partners to consider what we will achieve under this five-year strategic plan – 90 per cent of at least of countries with PHEOCs.

“We need $181million to implement this plan. Let us put our hands together, let us be sure that we are working, let us ensure that we provide at least the $181million that we are requesting,” Kaseya noted.