“The objective is clear,” said Omar Abdi, Deputy Executive Director of Programmes, UNICEF. “We have a target to train, to deploy and support health workers in Africa,” he said adding UNICEF and Africa CDC had the commitment to bring an additional half a million healthcare workers to 2 million already agreed by the African Union Heads of State.
Abdi said meeting the target had a bearing on how the continent would perform during public health emergencies and how it would positively impact reducing morbidity and mortality among children.
“The task at hand is crucial but timely since we are still facing unprecedented challenges in our healthcare systems,” said Dr Mohammed Abdulaziz, head of the Disease Control Division at CDC Africa.
“The need for community health workers integration into the broader health system in Member States has never been more urgent than this time when a lot more of our professional health workforce are migrating to the developed countries for greener pastures,” he added.
There is a need to share best practices, pool resources, and coordinate activities at Member States and continental levels, to maximize the impact and achieve greater efficiency in improving healthcare services across the continent through the operationalization of the continental coordination mechanism (CCM) for community health, Dr Abdulaziz said.
“To effect change, we must prioritize investment in community health workers, ensuring they are adequately compensated, skilled, and supported, with special attention to women health workers at the frontline of the response for children and their families,” said Dr Laila Gad, UNICEF representative to the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Dr Gad said this investment will not only accelerate health targets for all African children but also better prepare health systems for future pandemics and public health emergencies, she added noting, partnership is paramount in this endeavour.
In February this year, Africa CDC and UNICEF announced an extended partnership framework aimed at bolstering primary healthcare, supply chain management, pooled procurement, local manufacturing, and public health emergency responses.
Dr Abdulaziz said this collaboration builds on the existing 2022-2024 Partnership Framework Agreement between Africa CDC and UNICEF, aligned with the goals of the African Union Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
At the core of this initiative is high-level advocacy for political prioritization and integration of Community Health Workers (CHWs) into human resource for health with the plan to deploy 50,000 CHWs over the next two years, progressing towards 500,000 by 2027. This in line with the African Union Heads of State initiative to deploy 2 million CHWs in Africa.

To achieve this, the partnership builds on the 2017 African Union Decision on CHWs and the Monrovia Call to Action by reinforcing commitments to invest in, scale, and strengthen community health workers programs.

About Africa CDC: The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a continental autonomous public health agency of the African Union that supports member states in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, and prevention and control of diseases. Learn more at: http://www.africacdc.org

About UNICEF: UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. Learn more at www.unicef.org

Media inquiries:
Margaret Edwin, Director of Communication & Public Information Division: Africa CDC | Tel: +251 986 632 878 | Email: EdwinM@africacdc.org
Ricardo Pires| UNICEF New York | Tel: +1 917 631 1226 | Email: rpires@unicef.org

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The Ministers of Health of African Union Member States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 27 April, under the facilitation of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to drive this message home. 

“We need African opinion and voice to be heard because this is the only way for us to show that we are together,” said Dr Jean Kaseya, the Director General of Africa CDC, opening the meeting in Addis Ababa.

All AU members were represented at the meeting for the first time, and eight health ministers participated online.

“We decided to come and strengthen the voice for the continent and the world,” Dr Kaseya said.

The pandemic agreement is a potential international agreement currently being negotiated by the 194 member states of the WHO, including the US. It is intended to address some of the weaknesses in capacities and lack of international cooperation during the global response to COVID-19. 

Africa CDC is not a negotiator; it provides political, strategic, and technical support to negotiators.

Dr Mekdes Daba, Ethiopia’s new Minister of Health who took office in February 2024, said the ministers were meeting at a critical time in the global health governance where a pandemic had paused an administrative vacuum to our collective strengths, driving health experts to unforgivingly reflecting the world’s vulnerabilities.

“As we navigate these challenging times, we must learn from our past experiences and share the future of global health security,” Dr Daba said.

Slyvia Masebo, Zambia’s health minister, said the health of ‘our’ people in our respective countries is a core component of economic and social development, and our collective voices today should foster unity around this common purpose of achieving universal health coverage.

“Our voices today should lead to equitable access to pandemic-related health products, increased access to vaccines and diagnostics, ensuring that no one is left behind, tech transfer, local production capabilities, and strengthening of our health systems,” Masebo said.

Ministers of health eventually agreed that the current Pandemic Agreement should ensure equity.

In a 27 April communique, the ministers said multilateral pathogen access and benefit sharing system (PABS), which provides legal certainty for both users and providers and ensures improved access to pandemic-related health products, technologies with measures that establish regionally distributed production of pandemic-related health products, and measures that establish regionally distributed production of pandemic-related health products were required.

The ministers also called for the formulation of coherent national and regional strategies for emergency preparedness, response, and health workforce development, including community health workforce.  “Let us stand united in our commitment and ensure a fair and comprehensive pandemic agreement for the benefit of all our people and a healthier Africa,” said Masebo.

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Under the slogan ‘Vaccinated communities, Healthy communities’, Africa Vaccination Week aims to keep immunization high on national and regional agendas towards delivering life-saving interventions for happier and healthier communities.

Over the years, Immunization road maps have been developed, cold chain equipment have been provided, and partnerships have been forged to increase access to life-saving vaccines.

However, challenges remain.

Vaccine hesitancy, lack of local vaccine manufacturing capacity, and inadequate financial resources pose significant hurdles.

To address these challenges, the Africa CDC has laid out key actions

1. Creation of a new Directorate of Primary Health Care, to have a centred focus on strengthening health systems and immunization across the continent

2. Leading the charge towards the vital goal of access to safe and effective vaccines. Heads of State and Government recently expanded local manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for Africa’s self-sufficiency in health

3. Fostering partnerships with like-minded partners, investing in research, and building local capacity

Call to Action

We call upon political leaders and policymakers to prioritize immunization, increase domestic funding, and raise awareness about the importance of vaccination.

We urge communities and stakeholders to mobilize support and advocate for concerted action against vaccine-preventable diseases and,

We invite African Union first ladies and high-level leaders to join us in raising awareness about the benefits of immunization, particularly in the prevention and control of diseases like cervical cancer. ‘Vaccinated communities, Healthy communities!

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b. Commitments to organize and resource technical support on the range of matters covered by the draft agreement, including all equity-related provisions, as well as pandemic prevention and public health surveillance, preparedness, readiness, and resilience, and health and care workforce through WHO coordinated mechanisms that are accountable to the Conference of Parties.

c. Appropriate safeguards and limitations that should be placed on the use and sharing of data and information provided by State Parties to WHO, such that the information shared should not be used to the detriment of the interests of the State Parties providing the information such as disproportionate travel or trade bans, devaluation of credit rating and/or sovereign bonds.

2. PANDEMIC PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE (PPPR)
a. Formulate coherent national and regional strategies for emergency preparedness and response and health workforce development, including community health workforce.

b. Enact domestic laws providing for broad exemptions and limitations to intellectual property to address public health emergencies.

c. Increase supply chain diversification and logistics streamlining (continental, regional and national), including through initiatives with other Global South countries.

d. Make incremental steps, in line with respective capacities and nationally self-determined priorities, on PPPR competencies.

e. Operationalize various WHO coordinated mechanisms such as on coordinating R&D and technology transfer, in a manner that such mechanisms are accountable to the Conference of Parties and take guidance from the Conference of Parties in their operations.

3. PREDICTABLE, SUSTAINABLE FINANCING AND GOVERNANCE
a. Call for an International financing mechanism that is accountable to the Conference of Parties and enshrining explicit commitments to new, sustainable, and increased funding support from developed countries for country-level pandemic prevention, preparedness and response in developing countries, debt relief and debt restructuring mechanisms including debt for PPPR swaps.

b. Accelerate the operationalisation of the financing of the African Epidemic Fund.

AFRICA STANDS READY TO PLAY ITS PART AND COMMITS TO ENGAGE ACTIVELY IN THE ONGOING NEGOTIATIONS AND FINALISATION OF THE DRAFT PANDEMIC AGREEMENT.

Addis Ababa, 27 April 2024

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The Integrated Genomic Surveillance and Data Sharing Platform and Integrated Genomic Surveillance for Outbreak Detection were officially announced on 24 April.

“These projects are poised to strengthen laboratory detection and surveillance of emerging, re-emerging, and endemic diseases, as well as antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in Africa,” said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa CDC. 

“The increasing number of outbreaks is driven by complex ecological, climatic, political, economic, and social factors, all of which are becoming more exacerbated on our continent,” he said. 

“In the face of ongoing global health challenges…Fortifying multi-pathogen molecular detection and sequencing capabilities in the African Union is essential for global health security,” said Laurent Muschel, Acting Director General of the European Commission Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).

The Africa CDC, HERA, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Africa Public Health Foundation are collaborating in the projects. Together with our partners, we’re building a collaborative network that strengthens our ability to respond to health threats in Africa.

The European Union-funded projects feed into the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI 2.0) which, is a transition from emergency response to building an optimized, resilient, and integrated molecular diagnostic and genomic surveillance ecosystem.

Nqobile Ndlovu, Chief Executive Officer of ASLM, said the launch of the two projects is pivotal in devising scalable and sustainable approaches for integrating molecular diagnostics and sequencing within Africa’s routine surveillance structures. 

“We are eager to collaborate with the Africa CDC and HERA to strengthen laboratory systems ensuring effective responses to current and future health threats,” Ndlovu said.

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Mpox is endemic to 12 countries in Africa

Nachega said Africa has faced a long-standing unmet need for sustainable local diagnostic laboratories and research capacity for mpox. 

“MpoxReC will address these needs and provide outcome monitoring and surveillance across endemic African countries while simultaneously contributing to much-needed South-South, multi-disciplinary, and inter-professional research collaborations and capacity-building,” he said. He said the continent needs to share national and regional epidemic preparedness frameworks on the disease.

The research group, which includes global partners and African collaborators, will initially focus on Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Republic of Congo.  Professor Nadia Sam-Agudu will lead researchers at the University of Cape Coast Ghana, Professor Samuel Nakoune Yandoko will head the team at Pasteur Institute in Bangui, the Central African Republic, co-principal investigators Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe and Professor Placide Mbala will represent the DRC’s Institute National Research Biomedical, Professor Dimie Ogoina from Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital will represent Nigeria, Cameroon’s Pasteur Institute research team will be led by Professor Richard Njouom and Congo will be led by Professor Francine Ntoumi from the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research. Expansion to other African countries will take place later.

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The kick-off meeting, convened at the Africa CDC Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, signified a pivotal moment in the collaboration between the African CDC and the European Commission Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to strengthen outbreak detection and disease surveillance throughout Africa.

Through these projects implemented by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), Africa CDC, and HERA, in partnership with African Union (AU) Member States, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and the Africa Public Health Foundation (APHF), will strengthen national and regional capacities to promptly detect outbreaks, support the integration of AMR genomic surveillance, and facilitate swift and high-quality data sharing for public health decision-making.

His Excellency Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa CDC, emphasized the significance of this partnership stating, “The increasing number of outbreaks is driven by complex ecological, climatic, political, economic, and social factors, all of which are becoming more exacerbated on our continent. These projects are poised to strengthen laboratory detection and surveillance of emerging, re-emerging, and endemic diseases, as well as antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in Africa. They also highlight the strategic partnership between Africa CDC and the European Commission.”

Laurent Muschel, Acting Director General of HERA, emphasized, “In the face of ongoing global health challenges, Africa CDC and HERA are taking together concrete actions to strengthen detection of outbreaks, AMR genomic surveillance, and timely data sharing across Africa. Fortifying multi-pathogen molecular detection and sequencing capabilities in the African Union is essential for global health security.”

Africa CDC’s shift towards Africa PGI 2.0 signifies a transition from emergency response to building an optimized, resilient, and integrated molecular diagnostic and genomic surveillance ecosystem. It is critical and timely to incorporate lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, and empower national and regional reference laboratories to expand their capabilities to detect and characterize epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases. As demonstrated in previous outbreaks, molecular detection and genomic sequencing improves early detection and response to public health emergencies. Mr. Nqobile Ndlovu, CEO of ASLM, remarked, “The launch of the two projects is pivotal in devising scalable and sustainable approaches for integrating molecular diagnostics and sequencing within Africa’s routine surveillance structures. We are eager to collaborate with the Africa CDC and HERA to strengthen laboratory systems ensuring effective responses to current and future health threats”.

“APHF will continue to strengthen collaboration with the Africa CDC and HERA to support the flagship Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI) and advance public health laboratory systems for pandemic preparedness and response.” Said Dr. Ebere Okereke, CEO of APHF

The Africa CDC is working with ASLM, APHF, Member States, the Africa Laboratory Technical Working Group, and other partners to ensure the effective and successful implementation of the two projects.

# #

For more information:

Dr. Sofonias Tessema, Program Lead, Africa PGI |Africa CDC| sofoniast@africacdc.org

Media inquiries:

Ms. Margaret Muigai Edwin, Director, Communication & Public Information Directorate: Africa CDC |

Tel: +255 742 635 592 | Email: edwinm@africacdc.org

About Africa CDC

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is the continental autonomous Health agency of the African Union that strengthens the capacity and capability of Africa’s public health institutions as well as partnerships to detect and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats and outbreaks, based on data-driven interventions and programmes. Learn more at: http://www.africacdc.org 

About Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority

The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is a directorate-general of the European Commission with a mission to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to health emergencies. HERA aims to assess potential health threats, promote research and development, manufacturing, procurement, and equitable distribution of key medical countermeasures to strengthen the EU’s health emergency preparedness and response. Learn more at https://commission.europa.eu

About Africa Public Health Foundation 

The Africa Public Health Foundation exists to forge partnerships and mobilize resources to support critical public health initiatives across the continent, in support of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Learn more at https://aphf.africa/

About African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) The African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) is a pan-African professional body working to advocate for the critical role and needs of laboratory medicine and networks throughout Africa. ASLM aims to strengthen healthcare systems through collaborative efforts with governments, local and international organizations, implementing partners, and the private sector. Learn more at www.aslm.org

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« Le monde fait face de plus en plus aux urgences sanitaires de portée internationale avec d’importants impacts sur l’économie mondiale et les mouvements de personnes. La COVID-19 demeure un bel exemple et nous a montré qu’aucun pays n’est à l’abri des urgences sanitaires ; ce qui nécessite de développer des outils appropriés en permanence pour y faire face. Le CDC Afrique, institution technique et spécialisée de l’Union africaine, dans son mandat, est bien placée pour développer des actions appropriées visant à résoudre le problème de fluidité de partage d’informations entre les États et de coordination régionale efficace », a indiqué le ministre de la Santé et de la Population de la République centrafricaine, Dr Pierre Somse.

La mise en place du Centre régional de connaissances s’inscrit en droite ligne avec les engagements récemment pris par les États membres de la région Afrique centrale. En effet, en octobre 2023 à l’occasion de la réunion ministérielle de haut niveau sur la sécurité sanitaire qui s’est tenue en Guinée équatoriale, et plus récemment, le 13 avril 2024, lors du segment ministériel de la réunion d’urgence sur le Mpox en Afrique, les États membres s’engageaient à entreprendre des actions visant à renforcer la collaboration et la coordination entre tous les États membres de l’Union africaine ainsi que le partage en temps réel des informations afin de prévenir et répondre efficacement aux multiples urgences de santé publique.

Promouvoir et faciliter l’accès à l’information et à la connaissance ; transformer l’information accessible en connaissances utilisables ; documenter et partager les connaissances informelles pour éclairer les décisions et l’action ; et faciliter de manière proactive l’utilisation de l’information et de la connaissance pour obtenir un impact sur la santé publique sont les principaux objectifs visés par la création du centre régional de connaissances de l’Afrique centrale.

Au cours de l’atelier d’orientation sur la création d’un centre régional de connaissances en Afrique centrale, les expériences des Communautés économiques régionales, notamment l’OCEAC et la CEEAC ainsi que les contributions des experts ont été recueillies afin de s’assurer qu’il n’y ait pas duplication des efforts d’une part et que la plateforme réponde aux besoins de la région et qu’il est mis en œuvre de manière efficace d’autre part. Les participants ont pu également identifier les domaines de collaboration mutuelle et définir les ressources nécessaires à l’opérationnalisation du centre régional de connaissances de l’Afrique centrale.

À l’issue de l’atelier de deux jours, le directeur régional du Centre de coordination régional de l’Afrique centrale du CDC Afrique, Dr Benjamin Djoudalbaye a déclaré : « Nous félicitons la République démocratique du Congo, le Gabon, le Tchad et le Cameroun qui se sont portés volontaires pour la phase pilote de la mise en œuvre de la plateforme et espérons que d’autres États membres leur emboiteront très prochainement le pas ».

Par ailleurs, le ministre de la Santé et de la Population, Dr Pierre Somse, a indiqué que la République centrafricaine va rejoindre les quatre pays précités pour faire partie de cette phase pilote.

##FIN##

À propos du CDC Afrique

Africa CDC est une agence technique spécialisée de l’Union africaine pour le renforcement des capacités et l’aptitude des institutions de santé publique africaines, ainsi que les partenariats, à détecter et à répondre rapidement et efficacement aux menaces et aux épidémies de maladies, sur la base d’interventions et de programmes fondés sur des données. Pour plus d’informations, veuillez consulter : http://www.africacdc.org 

À propos de l’Union africaine

L’Union africaine est le fer de lance du développement et de l’intégration de l’Afrique en étroite collaboration avec les États membres de l’Union africaine, les Communautés économiques régionales et les citoyens africains. Vision de l’UA : accélérer les progrès vers une Afrique intégrée, prospère et inclusive, en paix avec elle-même, jouant un rôle dynamique sur la scène continentale et mondiale, conduite efficacement par une Commission responsable, efficace et réactive. Pour plus d’informations, veuillez consulter : https://au.int/en/

Pour plus d’informations, merci de contacter :

Dr Justin Maeda | Coordinateur principal des CCR et chef de département planification, reporting et redevabilité | Email : justinm@africacdc.org | Africa CDC

Contact médias :   Direction de la communication et de l’information | Communications@africacdc.org | Site internet : www.africacdc.org | Addis Abeba, Éthiopie | Nous suivre : Facebook  | X | Youtube  | Linkedin

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This training aims to bolster cross-border RCCE for coordinated emergency preparedness and response in the region. Participating countries include Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Given the interconnectivity and the frequent emergencies in the region, including public health outbreaks such as Ebola, Marburg, cholera, and yellow fever among others, enhancing cross-border collaboration is crucial.

“In addressing the challenges of health security in region, it is crucial to recognize the imminent risks posed by dynamic cross-border movement,” stated Dr. Lul Riek, Regional Director for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Coordinating Centres at Africa CDC. “Limited cross-border coordination and weak mechanisms for RCCE compound these challenges. By strengthening our regional collaborations and enhancing our RCCE strategies, we can more effectively deliver timely, clear, and culturally sensitive information that empowers communities to take informed actions during health crises.”

Over the past few years, RCCE has been a critical component in outbreak response in East and Southern Africa, particularly to support the social and behavioural change needed for the uptake of health interventions and effective emergency readiness and response. Through RCCE, communities are kept informed, a coordinated system is in place to manage risks, and evolving needs during crises can be managed. This shift began with preparedness activities during the 2018 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. Since then, initiatives including the Collective Service, through the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent emergencies in the region—have reinforced the critical role of collaboration between partners for the coordinated delivery of RCCE during health emergencies and the promise of leveraging community insights to inform and tailor other key pillars of a response.

“The urgency of our mission is heightened by a myriad of emergencies including missed vaccinations, conflict, climate sensitive diseases and climate-related disasters that increasingly threaten community resilience and livelihoods in the region. These disasters exacerbate vulnerabilities, particularly among dynamic and mobile populations and for children, presenting unique challenges to our response strategies. We need to continue to work together as response actors across pillars and borders to share and rapidly respond to recommendations emerging from community feedback and social science data, for more community-centred responses,” said Lieke van de Wiel, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Deputy Regional Director.

Over the years, RCCE activities have evolved beyond one-way risk communication by Ministries of Health and partners. Today, the focus lies in coordinated approaches that engage affected communities, listen to their concerns, and harness both qualitative and quantitative data. Community feedback mechanisms, qualitative research, and data triangulation—across online/digital and offline channels—drive targeted responses. These efforts deepen our understanding of critical behaviors for outbreak response and promote preventive measures.

“Let us leverage the power of data and evidence-based practices to inform our decision-making processes and tailor our interventions including messaging to the specific needs of each community. By embracing innovation and utilizing new technologies, we can enhance our ability to gather, analyse, and utilize RCCE data effectively, thereby enhancing our overall response capacity.” Dr Daniel Langat, Head of Surveillance and Response, Ministry of Health Kenya.

By convening key government actors and public health partners, RCCE partners aim to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), action plans, and training packages to improve RCCE readiness and data utilization for effective community-centered responses to outbreaks and disasters. This workshop is essential for ensuring the protection of children and vulnerable communities and maintaining essential services during emergencies.

Sophie Everest, UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team RCCE Specialist at the UK Health Security Agency said: “The UK-PHRST is delighted to be involved in this partnership of RCCE experts from across Eastern and Southern Africa to share technical expertise and facilitate scenario-based exercises to help strengthen community-led outbreak responses in the future. It is the first time Ministries of Health, Africa CDC, Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, WHO and UNICEF colleagues from across these countries have come together to discuss and plan how to prioritise this work, and we look forward to supporting these plans moving forwards.”

As emergency response partners in the region navigate a complex landscape of health emergencies, exacerbated by climate change and conflict, RCCE remains a critical tool in bridging knowledge, collaboration and action, in support of resilience, preparedness, and community well-being.

Africa CDC and UNICEF, in collaboration with IFRC, WHO and UK-PHRST as well as other partners, are committed to spearheading additional cross-border RCCE capacity-building workshops, thereby reinforcing resilience, preparedness, and community well-being throughout the region.

—– END —–

For media enquiries please contact:

Communication & Public Information Directorate | Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention | Email: Communications@africacdc.org and AddisMH@africacdc.org

Sasha Surandran, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, ssurandran@unicef.org

About Africa CDC: The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a continental autonomous public health agency of the African Union that supports member states in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, and prevention and control of diseases. Learn more at: http://www.africacdc.org

About UNICEF: UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit https://www.unicef.org/esa/. Follow UNICEF in Africa on Twitter and Facebook

About UK-PHRST: The UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team is a key international partner in infectious disease outbreak detection, prevention, preparedness and response; operational research; and capacity strengthening. We partner with low- and-middle income countries to support effective response to outbreaks before they develop into global health emergencies, and are able to deploy teams of public health specialists over a range of technical disciplines rapidly and at short notice to outbreak areas. We are an innovative partnership between the UK Health Security Agency and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, funded with UK aid by the UK Department of Health and Social Care.

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The Africa CDC recalls the considerable efforts of Africa to timely access vaccines as Member States of the Union considered vaccines as the most effective means in the pandemic response. Through its Heads of States and Government, the AU and Africa CDC called for equitable and timely access to and receipt of vaccines. A call which in many instances went unanswered by the international community and industry.

Its public evidence that Covid-19 vaccines were delivered late to Africa, long after vaccines were made available to the developed world. Such actions significantly contributed to lower the demand for vaccines once these eventually were made available for Africa. We must also acknowledge that this late availability of vaccines to Africa, significantly affected the course of the pandemic, as well as the uptake and demand for vaccines.

With the view to mobilise funds and find a responsive solution, African Union established the AU Covid-19 response fund and launched the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) with the African Export and Import Bank (Afrexim Bank). AVAT acquired 400 million vaccines from manufacturers other than Moderna, simply because Moderna vaccines were not made available, despite attempts to buy. In fact, less than 5% of the covid-19 vaccines administered in Africa, were from Moderna. Despite these African efforts, Covid-19 vaccines were still delivered late to Africa, long after vaccines were made available to the developed world.

Through its consortium for Covid-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials (CONCVACT) Africa CDC also played a coordination role in facilitating the start and successful completion of clinical trials during the pandemic, strengthening enablers of high-quality vaccines clinical trials on the continent, and in accelerating post-trial vaccines regulatory approval.

Therefore, to blame Africa and Africa CDC for lack of demand for covid-19 vaccines and therefore the reason to put on hold plans to manufacture vaccines in Africa, only serves to perpetuate the inequity that characterized the response to the Covid–19 pandemic. While other vaccine manufacturers are progressing with their plans and construction in Africa, Moderna is abandoning a commitment to build highly needed and relevant vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa, in truth, demonstrating that Moderna’s commitment is in fact not to vaccine equity and access to vaccines, through building manufacturing in Africa.

Africa CDC, as mandated by Heads of State of African governments, will continue to advocate, and support the establishment of a strong local vaccine manufacturing ecosystem, which supports research and development, and local manufactures’ capacity to serve the African Union continental vision of producing 60% of vaccines, therapeutics, and other medical products by 2040. Nevertheless, Africa CDC acknowledge that building vaccine manufacturing infrastructure and capabilities, is complex, takes a long time, and requires significant investment. That is why we, through our Partnership for African Vaccine manufacturing (PAVM), now renamed PHAHM – Platform for Harmonized African Health Products Manufacturing, will continue to work towards building and strengthening African manufacturing, with our member states, international finance institutions, regulators, and partners, including vaccine manufacturers. This forms part of our comprehensive and African approach to pandemic preparedness and prevention, and we encourage Moderna, as an experienced vaccine manufacturer, to contribute to, and support, Africa’s ambitious goal of a secure and safe Africa on public health security for the betterment of African health security and beyond.

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