In March 2017, the first Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) scientific symposium convened in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the African Union meeting of experts and Ministers of Health, Population and Drug control. The symposium was packed with sessions that provided key guidance about Africa CDC’s five year strategic plan for surveillance, detection, preparedness and response to disease threats.
The two day meeting was attended by Ministries of Health and National Public Health Institutes from across Africa, public health agencies such as the US CDC, China CDC and European CDC, the World Bank, UN organisations, research institutions, academic institutions, private sector entities, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other private foundations, and other public health experts from across the globe. Here are the key takeaways from the inaugural scientific symposium of the Africa CDC.
Strengthening surveillance and disease intelligence in Africa
“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 in 2013. 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 of Health of the Republic of Guinea.
The Africa CDC has a significant stake in strengthening existing collaboration in disease detection and surveillance. While mapping the current health threats on the continent, the institution will build on what countries have already put in place. Successful information sharing will depend on whether trust is built at all levels across African countries for data utilisation and building a continent-wide public health service model to detect diseases rapidly. Immediate priorities include building epidemiological capacity for health care workers, improving diagnostic capacity at point of care, investing in technology driven disease surveillance systems, strengthening cross border collaboration and information exchange, and fostering existing partnerships and communication.
Africa CDC’s role in emergency preparedness and response
While major disease outbreaks are not new on the continent, the compression of space through globalization of transport networks and the persistence of weak health systems in Africa increased threats. To ensure that there is adequate preparedness and response, National Public Health Institutes now need to be established and strengthened. As an African Union owned institution, the Africa CDC can advocate at a high level for resources within countries and globally to support efforts to promote the Global Health Security Agenda.
Making national public health institutes fully functional
Africa CDC will promote establishment and strengthening of National Public Health Institutes. Key to this is to ensure that countries are supported to develop legal frameworks that are essential for National Public Health Institutes to be fully functional. For these institutes to deliver on their mandate they should operate independently, develop standards with minimum requirements on laboratories, surveillance, research, data management and sharing, one health activities and outbreak response.
Regional Collaborating Centers as Africa CDC without walls
The Regional Collaborating Centres are key institutions of Africa CDC that will provide a platform for communication and information sharing, linking to assets in the five AU regions. These pillars of Africa CDC’s architecture can link with the regional economic communities for resource mobilisation in the regions.
The private sector is positioned to play a key role in public health in Africa
Engagement with the private sector is a major priority for Africa CDC’s business model. There is a clear understanding that the private sector can provide support to public health as was evidenced by the immense role it played during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. The private sector is already investing in research, health services, pharmaceutical development, innovative technologies and systems and quality laboratory services.
The challenge of strengthening surveillance and laboratory networks
Public health officials depend on laboratory results for response. The challenge is to assemble a network from clusters already available for information sharing. Knowing what types of laboratories we have in the continent and establishing coordination mechanisms between them is crucial. The Africa CDC will support communication networks and platforms to share experience and expertise among countries.
Africa CDC’s facilitative role in public health research
The Africa CDC is not a research institute, but will play a role to guide, facilitate, and support research in Africa. The institution will develop a mechanism of translation of research findings to support evidence-informed policy and planning within the continent.
Winning partnerships for innovation and public health in Africa
In order to broaden innovation and foster partnerships the Africa CDC will advocate for innovative financing while promoting accountability and value for money. The Africa CDC will create an innovation hub to source, prioritize ideas and set up standards for sharing information and advocate for data driven pro-health policies on the continent.