Prioritization and Risk Ranking of Epidemic-Prone Diseases for Emergency Preparedness and Response in Southern Africa | Gaborone, Botswana 25 – 27 November 2024
Executive Summary: Since its establishment, Africa CDC has played a crucial role in improving public health across Africa by providing strategic direction, building institutional capacities, and deploying healthcare workers to address various disease threats. As part of its mandate and in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), Africa CDC, has been conducting prioritization […]
Mid-Year Brief: Multi-Country Cholera Outbreak in Africa (1 January – 31 July 2025)
Background Over the past decade, cholera has re-emerged as a persistent and escalating public health threat across African Union (AU) Member States (MS). Between 2014 and 2024, cholera cases reported in Africa surged from 105,287 cases and 1,882 deaths across 19 countries to 254,075 cases and 4,725 deaths across 20 countries. This represented a 141% […]
Continental Cholera Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for Africa 1.0
Cholera remains a major public health challenge in Africa, accounting for about 82% of global cases and 93.5% of cholera-related deaths. The burden falls disproportionately on fragile, conflict-affected, and underserved areas with limited access to clean water, sanitation, hygiene and essential health services. In response to this growing threat, African Heads of State and Government […]
African Volunteers Health Corps: A Strategic Framework for the Path Forward
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 […]
Environmental, Social and Governance Policy
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is the African Union’s (AU) health institution, established in January 2017 to enhance the continent’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats. Elevated to an autonomous health institution in February 2022, Africa CDC plays a pivotal role in strengthening public health institutions across […]
Pathogen Genomic Surveillance Policy Framework
During the COVID-19 pandemic, African Union (AU) Member States have made significant progress in acquiring and deploying genomic sequencing tools for detecting SARS-CoV-2 and tracking its variants. Through these tools, the continent is endowed with knowledge, capacity and related infrastructure with immense potential for routine application of pathogen genomics for evidence-based public health decision-making. It […]
Zoonotic Disease: Prevention and Control Strategy 2025-2029
Public health challenges over the past decade have highlighted the importance of approaching health through a holistic lens of human, animal, and environmental sectors, recognizing the need for a collaborative response against shared threats. Zoonotic diseases, transmitted between humans and animals through their shared environment, are at the forefront of the threats requiring collaborations that […]
Climate Change and Health: Strategic Framework 2025
Climate change is a global crisis with profound and far-reaching impacts on human well-being and the environment. It presents one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time with disproportionate impacts that are increasingly evident across the African continent. Globally, Climate change is projected to cause an additional 14.5 million deaths, over 2 […]
Africa’s Health Financing in a New Era – April, 2025
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Africa’s health sector is facing an unprecedented financing crisis, driven by a sharp decline of 70% in Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 2021 to 2025 and deep-rooted structural vulnerabilities. This collapse is placing immense pressure on Africa’s already fragile health systems as ODA is seen as the backbone of critical health programs: pandemic […]