Stories of Impact

Highlighting how collaborative public health action strengthens Africa’s resilience and saves lives across the continent.

Surveillance and Disease Intelligence
Risk-ranking Exercise Approves 25 Priority Diseases in Central Africa to Boost Health Security

Central Africa  has approved 25 priority diseases for targeted prevention, detection, and response in a major step towards stronger epidemic preparedness. Africa CDC in partnership with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) developed the list—covering threats such ...

Emergency Response and Preparedness
Africa’s New Cholera Plan: Darfur Crisis Shows Why Peace and Multisectoral Action Are Essential

Sudan’s Darfur region is grappling with a deadly cholera outbreak amid a complex humanitarian crisis marked by heavy rains, mass displacement, fragile water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, along with limited access to healthcare. New figures from the Africa Centres ...

Emergency Response and Preparedness
Strong Public Engagement in Africa’s Mpox Fight – But Gaps Persist

A year after mpox was declared a continental health threat, Africa’s response has shown encouraging momentum. An interim analysis of a new study by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reveals strong public engagement, with above-average ...

Emergency Response and Preparedness
Africa Sets Course to Strengthen and Harmonise Health Data Governance

The Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC) is set to kick off action towards strengthening and harmonising the framework of policies, procedures, and practices that ensure healthcare data is managed, protected, and used responsibly throughout its lifecycle — health data ...

Surveillance and Disease Intelligence
Malaria Surge in Southern Africa

Malaria is on the rise in southern Africa, with several countries – including Botswana, eSwatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe – reporting new outbreaks, underscoring the ongoing challenges in eradicating the disease in Africa. Data from the Surveillance and Disease Intelligence Division ...

Antimicrobial Resistance
New Study Reveals Widespread Drug Resistance Across 14 African Countries

Results from a newly published study highlight the growing spread of drug resistance across 14 African countries, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen laboratory testing, data systems, and health planning to tackle hard-to-treat infections. The study, known as the Mapping Antimicrobial ...

Public Health Information System
Africa CDC Set to Launch Groundbreaking Knowledge Management Portal

A year on, the ongoing mpox outbreak now affects 26 countries across Africa, up from seven initially. Containing the outbreak remains a challenge, complicated by the disease’s four clades and several sub-strains, the latest of which was only identified earlier ...

Surveillance and Disease Intelligence
Somalia and Djibouti Take a Big Step Towards Safer Medicines

Somalia and Djibouti are showing that, even in complex and challenging environments, it is possible to build systems that protect public health and foster trust. The two countries have made major strides by introducing national pharmacovigilance systems — tools that ...

Health Security in Africa
Eastern Africa Regional Coordinating Centre Sets the Tone for Strengthened Regional Health Security

Efforts to strategically leverage health diplomacy to foster cooperation, strengthen partnerships, and promote stability across nations gained momentum when Africa CDC’s Eastern Africa Regional Coordinating Centre (Eastern Africa RCC) formally presented its credentials to the Government of Kenya, establishing its official presence and ...

Africa CDC Weekly Event Based Surveillance
Southern Africa Enhances Early Warning Systems as Event-Based Surveillance Guidelines are Launched in Three Countries

Three Southern African countries now have Event-Based Surveillance (EBS) Guidelines—a critical tool for detecting and responding to emerging health risks. Event-based surveillance systems collect and analyse information from diverse sources, including communities, the media, and healthcare workers, to detect unusual ...

Journal of Public Health in Africa (JPHIA)
The Journal of Public Health in Africa Sees Significant Boost in Metrics

The number of articles published in the Journal of Public Health in Africa (JPHIA) has seen a significant increase, rising from an annual average of 70 articles between 2018 and 2024 to 104 articles in just the first half of ...

Emergency Response and Preparedness
New Roadmap to Strengthen Health Security in Central Africa

Africa CDC and strategic health partners operating in Central Africa have drawn up an outline of a joint 2026–2027 roadmap to strengthen health security in the Central African region. Central Africa, like the rest of the continent, is deeply affected by ...