Executive Summary
The 2024 Annual Report of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) highlights the organization’s sustained efforts to address the continent’s evolving public health challenges. Guided by its 2023–2027 Strategic Plan, Africa CDC achieved notable milestones across its six strategic priority areas: strengthening integrated health systems, strengthening national public health institutes, fostering local manufacturing of health products, advancing early warning and surveillance systems, improving laboratory systems and networks, and ensuring robust emergency preparedness and response for health threats. The report also underscores the critical role of cross-cutting enablers in achieving these goals, including public health research, digital health, best-in-class health workforce, sustainable health financing, strengthened governance, and regional coordination.
Africa CDC supported national responses to multiple major public health emergencies, including the mpox outbreak in 20 member states and the Marburg virus disease in Rwanda. Africa CDC declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) on August 13th in consultation with the affected Member States and relevant stakeholders. The declaration was supported by a recommendation of the Emergency Consultative Group, the Advisory and Technical Council and through endorsement of the Governing Board of Africa CDC.
For the very first time in Africa, an emergency response is led by putting in place a Joint Continental Incidence Management Support Team (IMST) co-led by Africa CDC and WHO, bringing together over 28 partners to collaborate on the Mpox response under the One team with a One unified plan, One budget, and One monitoring framework. This is a historic first that marked a significant milestone in Africa’s leadership of public health emergencies of continental significance.
Download the full report here: 2024 A Year of Innovation, Response, & Resilience
