African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
Name	African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
Formation	2017
Type	Intergovernmental organization
Headquarters	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Region served	Africa
Leader title	Director
Leader name	Ahmed Ogwell Ouma
Parent organization	African Union

African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is a continental public health institute established to support African Union member states in surveillance, emergency response, and public health system strengthening across Africa. It operates from headquarters in Addis Ababa and coordinates with regional economic communities such as the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern African Development Community to implement disease prevention and control measures. The agency interfaces with global institutions including the World Health Organization, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control while engaging with donor institutions like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank.

History

The inception followed high-level discussions after the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic that exposed weaknesses in continental preparedness, prompting the African Union to mandate a continental public health agency at the African Union Summit (2015). Founding instruments were developed in consultation with stakeholders including the African Development Bank, the United Nations, and national public health institutes such as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the South African National Department of Health. The agency was officially launched in 2017 with technical cooperation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and strategic guidance from health ministers previously involved in responses to outbreaks such as the 2016 yellow fever outbreak and the 2018–2020 Kivu Ebola epidemic.

Organization and Governance

Governance is structured under the African Union Commission with oversight from a technical advisory board composed of representatives from national public health institutes, academic institutions such as Makerere University, and regional laboratories like the West African Health Organization network. Leadership is provided by a Director who reports to the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Health, Population and Drug Control and liaises with ministers from member states including Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. The institution maintains relationships with philanthropic actors such as the Wellcome Trust and multilateral partners like the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to align policy, financing, and programmatic priorities.

Functions and Activities

Mandates include disease surveillance linked to systems like the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response framework, laboratory network strengthening in collaboration with centers such as the Pasteur Institute and academic partners like the University of Cape Town, and supporting national responses during outbreaks including coordination with the European Commission humanitarian mechanisms. Programmes span immunization support tied to campaigns influenced by Global Polio Eradication Initiative strategies, antimicrobial resistance initiatives informed by the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization, and noncommunicable disease surveillance in partnership with the International Diabetes Federation.

Regional Collaborations and Partnerships

The agency engages regional entities including the Economic Community of Central African States, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique centrale to tailor interventions. It coordinates with international health actors such as the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, the Pan American Health Organization on comparative approaches, and bilateral partners including China CDC and Public Health England-affiliated networks. Collaboration extends to research consortia involving institutions like the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and laboratory partnerships with the Africa CDC Regional Collaborating Centres.

Response to Public Health Emergencies

During crises the body activates incident management systems and convenes technical working groups with input from emergency responders like Médecins Sans Frontières, national emergency operations centres in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and global vaccine initiatives such as COVAX. It provided coordination during outbreaks including Lassa fever flare-ups and supported genomic surveillance enhancements influenced by experiences from COVID-19 pandemic response, integrating genomics capacity similar to initiatives led by the African Academy of Sciences.

Capacity Building and Research

Programs emphasize workforce development through partnerships with training institutions like University of Nairobi and professional bodies such as the African Federation for Emergency Medicine. Research collaborations include epidemiological studies with Johns Hopkins University, vaccine effectiveness analyses with Oxford Vaccine Group, and laboratory methods development alongside the Africa Medical Research Foundation. Grants and technical support have been mobilized with donors such as the United States Agency for International Development and research funders like the Wellcome Trust.

Criticisms and Challenges

Critiques have focused on funding constraints tied to reliance on external donors including European Union instruments and bilateral aid, questions about coordination scope vis-à-vis national agencies such as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (South Africa), and operational challenges in deploying rapid response teams across vast regions like the Sahel. Other challenges include data sharing tensions with continental bodies like the African Union Development Agency, sustainability of laboratory networks modeled on entities like the Institut Pasteur network, and political complexities when interfacing with member states such as Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of the Congo during protracted crises.

Category:Public health organizations Category:African Union institutions