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NOTING WITH CONCERN the prolonged and ongoing epidemic of mpox in several Central and West African countries and the potential risk of transmission to neighbouring countries and beyond;
SERIOUSLY CONCERNED about the changing transmission dynamics, high mortality rate and transmissibility of the monkeypox virus, as well as the morbidity, mortality and social and economic impacts;
AWARE of the limitations on access to and acquisition of medical countermeasures, including diagnostics, treatments, vaccines and other tools for early detection, verification, care, treatment and prevention;
RECOGNIZING the common threat posed by the mpox outbreak to the health and economic security of the populations of the Central and West African regions and the urgent need to address this common threat by all member states of the African Union;
ACKNOWLEDGING the existing frameworks, protocols, strategies and agreements for cross-border solidarity, collaboration and coordination on infectious disease issues, including:

• The Constitutive Act of the African Union (2000);
• The Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (2002);
• The International Health Regulations (2005); and, the African Union Declaration on Accelerating the Implementation of IHR in Africa (2017);
• The WHO Regional Strategy for Health Security and Emergencies, 2022-2030; and WHO African Region’s Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Strategy, 2020-2030;
• The Framework for Collaboration Between WHO and the African Union Commission on the establishment and operationalization of Africa CDC to improve health security in Africa (2016)
• The Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (2018);
• The Memorandum of Understanding between the Commission of the African Union and the World Health Organization (2019);
• The Amended Statute of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2022);
• The Standing Recommendations for Mpox issued by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) to all Member States (2023).

CONVINCED of the urgent need to strengthen preparedness and response to mpox at points of entry and within the respective national borders of AU Member States, including the need for a coordinated regional and sub-regional approach to prepare and respond effectively and rapidly to mpox and other similar epidemics;
NOTING the need for a strong national focus on the recommended comprehensive interventions (surveillance, contact tracing, community engagement, vaccination and targeted research);
COMMENDING national governments in the region for their ongoing reflections and analyses of the situation, as well as their efforts to respond to mpox epidemics, including collaborative initiatives on mpox research to fill knowledge gaps;
COMMENDING Africa CDC, WHO, UNICEF, US CDC, USAID, CEPI, Wellcome Trust, GAVI and other technical and financial partners for their support to the mpox response, including cross-border collaboration between affected and at-risk neighbouring countries;

Collectively, we resolve and commit our governments and institutions to:
1. PROMOTE a ‘One Health’ approach and inclusive, community-centered response mechanisms, including:
a. Strengthen response efforts in our countries and give them the resources and political commitment they deserve;
b. Develop and implement national multi-sectoral mpox plans, outlining critical actions to control mpox in all contexts;
c. Establish multi-sectoral coordination and accountability mechanisms that include other ministries and partners;
d. Establish and develop surveillance and laboratory diagnostic capabilities to improve epidemic detection and risk assessment;
e. Engage in further research to better understand the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of mpox in our countries, including sexual transmission.
f. Provide optimally integrated and stigma-free clinical care for mpox, including access to specific treatment and support measures to protect healthcare workers and caregivers, where appropriate;
g. Collaborate and accelerate research and development and regulatory processes for the development, and ensure equitable access to safe, effective and quality countermeasures, including vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics for affected populations including children;
h. Develop strategies for the use of new technologies to facilitate sample transport (drones, etc.);
i. Strengthen organized and structured national laboratory networks; and more rational detection procedures to improve biomonitoring, biosafety and biosecurity.
2. UNDERTAKE actions to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between all African Union Member States, in particular countries affected by an mpox outbreak and other neighbouring countries, for mpox preparedness and response, including:
a. Real-time sharing and digitization of epidemiological and laboratory surveillance data and other relevant reports;
b. Cross-border collaboration and coordination in mpox preparedness and response;
c. Sharing of technical expertise and other resources required for mpox preparedness and control;
d. Joint cross-border planning and implementation of Mpox preparedness and response activities, including risk communication and community engagement campaigns, including among key populations;

e. Sharing of information on potential threats to health security arising in areas affected by mpox outbreaks;
f. Monitoring the movement of people, animals and goods across national borders in accordance with the International Health Regulations (2005);
g. Capacity building of human resources, including joint training, learning exchanges and benchmarking visits, as well as simulation exercises;
h. Development of legal and regulatory processes and logistical planning for rapid cross-border deployment of public health experts and medical personnel for the mpox response.
3. FACILITATE technical support through Africa CDC and WHO mechanisms at various levels, including headquarters offices (Africa CDC and WHO), regional collaborating centres, regional offices and country offices.
4. EXCHANGE information rapidly on preparedness and response matters of common interest in line with the IHR (2005), in order to maintain the peace, security and prosperity of affected Member States and the Continent as a whole;
5. DECIDE to establish the Africa Taskforce for Mpox Coordination among Member States affected and at-risk of mpox to:
a. Facilitate the strengthening of preparedness and response capacities to mitigate the impact of mpox in Africa and beyond;
b. Strengthen rapid epidemic response, effective surveillance, capacity building of national laboratories and engagement with affected communities
c. Develop a common regional and national roadmap outlining mpox prevention, detection and control;
d. Prioritize scientific research and evidence synthesis for a better understanding of the disease, and support evidence-based decision-making for disease prevention and control.
6. REQUEST the African Union Commission, Africa CDC and WHO to jointly facilitate coordination of the Africa Taskforce for Mpox Coordination;
7. CALL UPON ALL partners to harmonize support to Member States in the fight against mpox by interacting with the African Taskforce for Mpox Coordination to ensure that each fulfills the mandates given to them at this meeting.

Kinshasa, 13 April 2024
Democratic Republic of Congo

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The convening aimed at nurturing political commitment and attract investments in epidemic intelligence, surveillance, and biosecurity discussed guidelines on high-consequence agents and toxins (HCAT) developed by the Africa CDC, list, and review progress made by the HSPA in building sustainable health security governance systems in the 6 partner countries.

In his keynote address, Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Deputy Director General of Africa CDC said, health security requires a collective effort and collaboration of multiple factors across all sectors, which is critical to meeting Africa CDC’s mandate.

“The success and sustainability of HSPA requires high-level political commitment and actively fostering an enabling policy environment. Sustainability demands regulatory reforms, long-term budget allocations, and recognizing robust early warning surveillance as integral to pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response” Dr Ouma said.

Under the auspices of the G7-led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, which is implementing the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa (SIMBA), HSPA has partnered with six African countries; Mali, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, The Gambia, and Tunisia – to strengthen epidemic intelligence, bio risk management and outbreak response capabilities across Africa for all biological threats; natural, accidental or deliberate. The Member States provided comprehensive progress reports on sustainable efforts to improve health security governance systems by their respective governments, during the meeting.

“By leveraging the strengths of a diverse set of institutional partners, the HSPA initiative represents a unique model for collaboration that aims to strengthen biosecurity on the continent. With the generous support of the Government of Canada, the WHO Hub will continue collaborating with partners to jointly support our Member States in building disease surveillance and epidemic intelligence capabilities through a Collaborative Surveillance approach”’, said Sara Hersey, Director Collaborative Intelligence, WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.

High-level officials, decision-makers, partners and Member States had the opportunity to explore mechanisms of engaging donor institutions and private sector stakeholders on partnerships to sustain health security systems.

Biological threats are on the rise – including threats posed by the deliberate use of disease as a weapon by states or terrorists – and our efforts and commitments must rise to meet them. As part of the Signature Initiative, Canada is proud to support the Health Security Partnership in Africa and other biosecurity initiatives across Africa. These efforts, together with similar work being supported by fellow members of the 31-country Global Partnership, are rooted in our firm belief that African health-security challenges demand made in Africa solutions”, stated Ambassador Ben Marc Diendéré, Canada’s Permanent Observer to the African Union.

Africa CDC is committed to working with key partners and stakeholders through this global partnership for epidemic intelligence and biosecurity and improving disease surveillance and intelligence among African Union Member states. The agency’s efforts to foster regional health security through various policy engagement forums on the continent include the annual Oyala Health Security Forum’ hosted by Equatorial Guinea, Ministerial Executive Leadership Program, and other high-level engagement opportunities, Dr Ouma indicated.

“**END**

Media inquiries:

For media enquiries please contact:

Communication & Public Information Directorate | Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention | Email: Communications@africacdc.org|   | Website: www.africacdc.org | Addis Ababa| Ethiopia| Facebook | Twitter

For more Information

Kyeng Mercy Tetuh | Epidemic Intelligence unit lead| Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention | Email: njit@africacdc.org

About HSPA

The Global Partnership is represented by Canada, the European Union, Germany, Italy (the current G7 and GP President), the United Kingdom and the United States. It has a membership of eight co-chairs of the SIMBA’s four sub-working groups. The partnership combines public health and national security expertise to build impactful, sustainable capabilities in epidemic intelligence, bio-risk management, and outbreak response.

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

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Geographic Focus: Reports could either focus on events affecting single country or multiple countries.

Inclusion criteria: While Africa CDC continues to track all public health events on the continent, this report highlights only moderate to very high-risk events (with new updates in the reporting week).

Events: We focus on a range of health threats, ranging from emerging infectious diseases to endemic conditions, and natural disasters. We follow a one-health multisectoral approach highlighting events across all relevant sectors: animal, environmental and human.

This Event-Based Surveillance Weekly Report is your compass for navigating Africa’s public health landscape. We empower you with the latest information and insights, for informed decisions and effective interventions to attain a healthy and prosperous Africa.

Stay informed. Stay vigilant. Stay safe.

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Recognizing the vital role of respectful and action-oriented partnerships outlined in the new public health order, Africa CDC and the Ministry of Health convened high-level partners to rally support for preventing and controlling monkeypox and cholera in DRC. The meeting, held on February 10, 2024, in Kinshasa, focused on the current epidemiological situation of monkeypox and cholera, identified response challenges, and mobilized partners’ support for government efforts.

H.E Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, highlighted Africa CDC’s support for cholera and Monkeypox response efforts, including deploying experts, training local health workers on surveillance and one health approaches, providing diagnostics, and supporting the genomics initiatives. However, cognizant of the increasing trend and risk of disease spread, the Director General underscored the need for renewed commitment of all partners and heightened response efforts to prevent further spread and control the outbreaks.

Through this meeting, partners had an opportunity to review and approve the action plans for response and further renewed their commitment to supporting the Government of DRC in the fight against Mpox and cholera.

Dr Roger Kamba, the Minister of Health in DRC, acknowledged Africa CDC’s pivotal role, citing empirical evidence that DRC bears a significant burden of monkeypox cases in Africa. “I am establishing a task force to facilitate the coordination of all partners involved in the response efforts,” he said.

From January 2023 to January 31, 2024, Africa recorded 266,436 cases and 4,419 deaths of cholera, with the DRC reporting over 16% of cases. Over the same period, Africa reported 16,549 Mpox cases and 853 deaths, with the DRC reporting 97.5% of cases.

More partnerships

Additionally, in reinforcing cooperation with local partners, the Africa CDC and Soins de Santé Primaire en Milieu Rural (SANRU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster collaboration and cooperation between the two organizations. The signing ceremony marked a pivotal moment in advancing healthcare initiatives in the DRC and beyond.

The Africa CDC and SANRU have identified several key areas for collaboration, including advocating for, developing, and strengthening the capacities of Primary Healthcare (PHC) with paid Community Health Worker (CHW) Programs, deploying Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) activities, facilitating the integration of community health worker programs into national health systems, and partnering to achieve gender equality and autonomy of women and girls in accessing health services.

“The signing of this agreement institutes our shared commitment to accelerate the achievement of universal health coverage and enhance health security in DRC and Africa. By promoting community health programs, supporting multi-sectoral interventions, and building a critical mass of community health workers, we aim to address gender inequalities in access to health, ultimately improving health outcomes for all,” said H.E Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC.

During the same mission, discussions on improving public health decision-making, policies and practices leveraging locally generated and context-relevant evidence with Prof. Jean Jacques Muyembe, the Director General of the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were held.  Discussions centred on the mechanisms of strengthening research and clinical trials related to monkeypox.

Additionally, Africa CDC engaged with the National Public Health Institute (NPHI) to strengthen the partnership between Africa CDC and NPHI and identify areas of supporting DRC NPHI to fulfil its mission of promoting health by coordinating public health functions and programs to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats, including infectious and non-infectious diseases and other health events.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces unique challenges due to its biodiversity, ecological complexity, and socio-political landscape, making it vulnerable to public health crises such as cholera and Monkeypox. Coordinated efforts and resources are essential to prevent and respond to such events effectively.

Recent epidemics of Monkeypox and cholera, declared by the Minister of Public Health, Hygiene, and Sanitation, have seen a concerning surge in cases across the nation, even in non-endemic regions. The situation demands extraordinary measures to curb the spread and minimize social and economic impact.

Media inquiries:

For media enquiries please contact:

Dorothy Njagi | Senior Communication Officer- Communication & Public Information directorate | Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention| African Union| email: email: njagid@africacdc.org  | Website: www.africacdc.org| Addis Ababa| Ethiopia| Facebook | Twitter

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 SANRU SANRU (Soins de Santé Primaire en Milieu Rurale) is a non-governmental organization based on the Christian faith. SANRU ASBL has a long experience in public health in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This goes back to 1981, three years after the WHO launched the concept of “health for all and by all” at the ALMA ATA Conference. Indeed, SANRU was one of the first organizations to implement the project to create and revitalize Health Zones in the DRC for over three decades. Learn more: https://www.sanru.cd/

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Geographic Focus: Reports could either focus on events affecting single country or multiple countries.

Inclusion criteria: While Africa CDC continues to track all public health events on the continent, this report highlights only moderate to very high-risk events (with new updates in the reporting week).

Events: We focus on a range of health threats, ranging from emerging infectious diseases to endemic conditions, and natural disasters. We follow a one-health multisectoral approach highlighting events across all relevant sectors: animal, environmental and human.

This Event-Based Surveillance Weekly Report is your compass for navigating Africa’s public health landscape. We empower you with the latest information and insights, for informed decisions and effective interventions to attain a healthy and prosperous Africa.

Stay informed. Stay vigilant. Stay safe.

The post Africa CDC Weekly Event Based Surveillance Report, February 2024 appeared first on Africa CDC.

Media inquiries:
Media Contact: Communication and Public Information Directorate, Africa CDC, Email: Communications@africacdc.org| Ms Ndahafa Nakwafila at: NakwafilaN@africacdc.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 which supports Member States in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, prevention and control of diseases.
Learn more at: http://www.africacdc.org

The post Africa CDC Support on Cholera Outbreak in Zambia appeared first on Africa CDC.

Geographic Focus: Reports could either focus on events affecting single country or multiple countries.

Inclusion criteria: While Africa CDC continues to track all public health events on the continent, this report highlights only moderate to very high-risk events (with new updates in the reporting week).

Events: We focus on a range of health threats, ranging from emerging infectious diseases to endemic conditions, and natural disasters. We follow a one-health multisectoral approach highlighting events across all relevant sectors: animal, environmental and human.

This Event-Based Surveillance Weekly Report is your compass for navigating Africa’s public health landscape. We empower you with the latest information and insights, for informed decisions and effective interventions to attain a healthy and prosperous Africa.

Stay informed. Stay vigilant. Stay safe.

The post Africa CDC Weekly Event Based Surveillance Report, January 2024 appeared first on Africa CDC.