Africa is continuing to make progress in meeting its Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets (part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals). Countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia are two examples of African countries making exemplary progress. Kenya, Ghana and South Africa are also among those making significant progress towards realising this dream. However, there is […] Continue reading ->
DURBAN, South Africa – Is Africa ready for another big pandemic? The answer is a resounding “No”, said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Kaseya blames this worrying state of affairs on the absence of national public health institutes in some countries, data management difficulties, a […] Continue reading ->
Ghana has seen an “exponential” increase in mpox cases over the past week, while there have been smaller increases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea, Burundi, and Kenya, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Ghana now has 313 confirmed cases, an 87% increase over the previous […] Continue reading ->
African countries worst affected by mpox have rapidly expanded their diagnostic capacity, with more laboratories and better-trained health workers, said Dr Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the mpox outbreak, has increased its laboratories from two in January […] Continue reading ->
US State Department officials are developing a plan to transform the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from an entity that tackles HIV to one that is broadly focused on protecting and promoting American interests. This is according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday, based on leaked planning documents that […] Continue reading ->
Africa is at a crossroads in its health journey – not simply because of shifting geopolitical dynamics or shrinking donor aid, although these are real challenges, but because we must confront a deeper structural flaw in how our health systems are designed. The continent, home to over 1.4 billion people and projected to house one […] Continue reading ->
Cholera in Africa is being driven by years of under-investment in water and sanitation, according to the Africa Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Four countries – Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and South Sudan – account for over 85% of the continent’s cholera cases and all have above-average death rates, […] Continue reading ->
Chikwe Ihekweazu, the first director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and currently head of the Health Emergencies Programme for the World Health Organization, believes that greater African leadership in global health organizations would benefit everyone. “These roles require not only technical competence, but also empathy and compassion, which I believe can only develop […] Continue reading ->
New weekly cases of mpox across Africa have dropped to around 2,000 for the first time this year giving hope that the outbreak may be waning, according to Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). In the mpox epicentre of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), new cases […] Continue reading ->
Amid bleak global economic and development aid trends, Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is piloting innovative financing solutions and doubling down on efforts to get member states to invest more domestic funds in health. A week ago, Africa CDC launched a new financing guide for member states and on Friday the […] Continue reading ->