Plans to establish the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are at the final stages with the infrastructure and equipment already at an advanced stage of set up.

Nine epidemiologists have already been recruited and are undergoing training for two months while the recruitment of senior staff is ongoing.

The assessment of Regional Collaborating Centres in the five AU regions has been completed and planning for the meeting of the governing board is the next milestone.

The Africa CDC will help African countries effectively monitor public health, respond to public health emergencies, address complex health challenges, and build the needed capacity.

Disaster preparedness and response:

The Africa CDC will establish early warning and response surveillance platforms to address in a timely and effective manner all health emergencies and support public health emergency preparedness and response. It will also assist Member States in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others stakeholders to address gaps in International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) compliance.

Other functions of the Africa CDC include conducting regional- and country-level hazard mapping and risk assessments for Member States and supporting them in health emergencies response particularly those declared international emergencies. The Africa CDC will also promote partnership and collaboration among Member States to address emerging and endemic diseases and public health emergencies. It will also harmonise disease control and prevention policies and the surveillance systems in Member States.

The establishment of the Africa CDC was endorsed in January 2015 by African leaders during the 24th African Union Summit. The Africa CDC will seek ongoing collaboration with other public health entities across the African continent and globally to elevate health outcomes for all African citizens. 

Africa learnt important lessons and working models to respond to health emergencies through its African Union Support for Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) mission that sent over 800 medical volunteers and public health responders to fight the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone between September 2014 and February 2015.

Meanwhile, the African Union is establishing the African Volunteer Health Corps as part of the Africa CDC that will assemble, equip, and mobilise a deployable roaster of volunteer medical and public health professionals. This will ensure rapid and effective responses to public health emergencies to Member States and matters of global concern including health impacts of natural disasters and humanitarian crises.