The Acting Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr. Ahmed Ogwell has challenged African countries to wake up to the reality that they are on their own and thus do things differently to ensure the health security of Africans.
Speaking at a high-level emergency ministerial meeting on cross-border collaboration for preparedness and response to Ebola Virus Disease, Dr. Ogwell noted that Africa doesn’t get urgent international attention and help whenever they are faced with pandemics that do not affect foreign countries.
He notes that the Ebola Sudan outbreak in Uganda has exposed the gaps in response efforts due to lack of rapid diagnostics for the particular strain and absence of a vaccine.
Dr. Ogwell says now is the time for Africa to plan, prepare and respond effectively to disease outbreaks using its own local resources.
It is from this that he underscores the need for the fast-tracking of Agenda 2063, “The Africa we want” and the full implementation of Africa’s New Public Health Order.
The New Public Health Order for Africa is a roadmap to sustainable health outcomes and health security.
The high-level ministerial meeting that has attracted health officials from WHO, African Union, Africa CDC and health ministers from 11 African countries including; Rwanda, South Sudan, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, South Africa among others seeks to agree on mechanisms to handle cross-border disease outbreaks.
