By Sheriff Saidykhan
The Deputy Director General, of Africa Centres for Disease Control Dr Tajudeen Raji, has reaffirmed Africa CDCʼs commitment to tackle the growing public health emergencies in Africa.
He made these remarks on Tuesday at the opening of Continental Media Workshop for Health and Science journalists, organised by Africa CDC.
“In the last few months, Africa has also responded to Marburg outbreaks in Rwanda and Tanzania and Ebola in Uganda all successfully contained. But the reality is sobering:
Africa remains the epicentre of global outbreaks, with cases rising from 152
in 2022 to 213 in 2024 a 40% increase.
That’s why we recently launched a Continental Surveillance Advisory Group to enhance forecasting, monitoring, and reporting. While we’ve made strides in event-based surveillance, we are now strengthening case-based and indicator-based systems to build an integrated surveillance infrastructure that works for Africa.” he said.
The event held in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa brought together health and science journalists to device strategies towards strengthening public health reporting.
He urged the Member States to meet the Abuja target of 15% of national budgets for health. “We’re also proposing innovative financing mechanisms solidarity levies on
airline tickets, alcohol, and mobile services, as well as tapping into Africa’s $95 billion in annual diaspora remittances.”.
During the three days event participants will learn different range of topics ranging from the power of genomics in outbreak response to the pillars of the New Public Health Order and the strategic direction laid out in Africa CDC’s five-year plan.
