This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
CDC helps African Union launch African CDC
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The CDC and the African Union Commission are collaborating to form the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a press release.
The announcement was made recently after Secretary of State John Kerry and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, MB, ChB, chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU Commission) signed a memorandum of cooperation.
“The West African Ebola epidemic reaffirmed the need for a public health institute to support African ministries of health and other health agencies in their efforts to prevent, detect and respond to any disease outbreak,” Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, said in the press release. “This memorandum solidifies the commitment by the United States to advance public health across Africa and global health security.”
Thomas R. Frieden
The African CDC will establish an African Surveillance and Response Unit, which includes an Emergency Operations Center. The agency’s coordinating center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will work with five regional collaborating centers throughout the African Union. Among the center’s staff members will be 10 African field epidemiologists supported by fellowships from the CDC who will conduct disease surveillance, investigations and analyses to report trends or anomalies, according to the release.
Furthermore, more than 800 medical volunteers sent to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from September 2014 to February 2015 in response to the Ebola epidemic will join others as an ambulatory force to react to future health emergencies.
“The African CDC will help African countries effectively monitor public health, respond to public health emergencies, address complex health challenges and build needed capacity,” Dlamini Zuma said in the release.
The new agency is expected to fully launch later this year, according to the release. The African CDC will pursue additional support from other public health organizations in Africa for technical and strategic assistance.