Africa’s CDC launches central data repository to transform continental health surveillance

ETHIOPIA – The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has launched a groundbreaking Central Data Repository (CDR) designed to revolutionize how public health information flows across the continent.

The initiative comes at a critical juncture as African nations grapple with an escalating number of health emergencies and increasingly complex disease threats.

Addressing Data Fragmentation

Despite notable progress in detecting and reporting disease outbreaks, public health data across Africa remains scattered across numerous disconnected systems.

These platforms rarely communicate with each other, creating significant barriers for countries and regional bodies attempting to quickly compile information, spot emerging threats, and convert raw data into swift, coordinated public health responses.

The newly launched CDR tackles this fundamental challenge by establishing a secure, interoperable platform that brings together surveillance information, laboratory results, and programme data from both national and regional systems.

This integration significantly enhances Africa CDC’s capacity to monitor health threats, conduct sophisticated analysis and forecasting, and orchestrate cross-border responses using the One Health approach.

Rising Health Emergency Burden

Africa currently shoulders the world’s heaviest load of public health emergencies.

Between 2022 and 2024, the continent witnessed a dramatic 40% surge in reported incidents, with cases climbing to 213.

This sharp increase stems from multiple converging factors: recurring infectious disease outbreaks, climate-related disasters including floods and droughts, large-scale population displacement, and ongoing humanitarian crises that continue to overwhelm already fragile health systems.

Development and Validation Process

The CDR project launched over a year ago with comprehensive feasibility studies and the creation of a working prototype.

The development process reached a pivotal milestone during a validation workshop held on 17-18 November 2025 at Africa CDC headquarters.

During this gathering, stakeholders thoroughly reviewed and approved the system’s architecture, cost projections, operational framework, and prototype, confirming the platform’s technical soundness and strategic viability.

Dr Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC Director General, emphasised the transformative potential of this centralised system.

“The centralised repository gives Africa CDC a single, trusted foundation for public health intelligence,” he stated.

“It allows us to see risks earlier, act faster, and coordinate responses across borders using consistent, high-quality data.”

Strategic collaboration and execution

Africa CDC developed the CDR through a strategic partnership with the Global Fund, which provided direct financial support for the project.

The Global Fund engaged the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) of the Task Force for Global Health to conduct the needs assessment, perform cost analysis, develop operational plans, and build the prototype.

Balancing continental oversight and national sovereignty

Dr Merawi Aragaw, Head of Africa CDC’s Division for Surveillance and Disease Intelligence, described the CDR as a transformative advancement in continental health intelligence.

“Effective health security depends on who controls and uses data for timely decision-making,” he explained.

The CDR strengthens Africa CDC’s ability to generate continental insights and respond to public health emergencies while simultaneously empowering Member States to maintain data ownership through a federated model, enabling them to make accurate, evidence-based decisions.