African Volunteers Health Corps: A Strategic Framework for the Path Forward

WHAT IS THE AFRICAN VOLUNTEERS HEALTH CORPS?

The African Volunteers Health Corps (AVoHC) is a network of African public health professionals established by the African Union (AU) to support public health emergency response efforts across Africa.

AVoHC provides a mechanism for rapidly deploying a wide range of African experts to AU member states to respond to public health threats that necessitate surge capacity. The profiles of the experts include Epidemiologists, Laboratory Scientists,Communications professionals, Logisticians, Data Managers, Physicians, and Social Scientists.

Experts receive specialist training in emergency response and work within countries’ existing emergency response structures. Deployments are coordinated by the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, with support from the Africa CDC Regional Collaborating Centers.