ETHIOPIA – The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for immediate and comprehensive measures for the full implementation of Africa’s New Public Health Order.
African leaders made the powerful joint call during the Special Side Event, “Africa’s New Public Health Order: Rejuvenating the Global Health Security Agenda” on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The agency announced in an official press statement that African Union (AU) Heads of States and Government, and Heads of Delegations have called for swift action on strengthening African institutions for public health.
“The AU Member States, multilateral organizations, and civil society should ensure that Africa’s voice is heard and African positions on the global health security agenda are reflected in the ongoing negotiations for developing international legally binding instrument on pandemic preparedness and response,” the agency said.
The member states have been urged to provide full support to African institutions for public health including Africa CDC and Africa Medicine Agency (AMA) in the execution of their mandates.
Governments, multilateral organizations, philanthropies, the private sector, and civil society organizations were also encouraged to support institutional capacity-building initiatives targeting all institutions that support public health at all levels.
The agency further disclosed that the African leaders have called upon the African Union Commission to expedite the full operationalization of the Africa CDC and AMA.
“To increase domestic investment in health, Heads of States and Government call upon AU Member States, Africa CDC, the African Union, philanthropies, and private sector to promote innovative domestic financing mechanisms,” the agency said.
Relevant health organizations and all stakeholders were urged to develop action-oriented partnerships, with Africa CDC, the African Union, and the AU Member States, which are based on Africa’s priorities.
According to the public health agency, governments, multilateral organizations, philanthropies, private sector, and civil society organizations were advised to support Africa CDC’s efforts and initiatives for building the capacities and capabilities of all workers.
The Call to Action also emphasized on the need for the AU Member States and all partners to expand and strengthen community health workers programmes in Africa.
In addition, the leaders called upon the AU Member States to coordinate with Africa CDC and the African Union as they expand manufacturing capacity and opportunities for all health products in Africa.
The member states were further advised to coordinate with Africa CDC, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, and the African Union particularly in coordinating increased demand for health products manufactured on the continent.
The continental agency highlighted that vaccines purchasing mechanisms such as the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI) were urged to purchase at least 30 percent of their vaccines from manufacturers in Africa.
Furthermore, the Heads of States and Government called upon all relevant health stakeholders to remove trade and intellectual property-related barriers to support the local production of health products in Africa.
“International partners, development finance institutions, philanthropies and private sector were advised to support investment in infrastructure for manufacturing of health products in Africa, through new and innovative mechanism,” Africa CDC added.
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