By Iyemah David
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it is transitioning from emergency outbreak response mechanisms to a long-term continental preparedness system aimed at strengthening Africa’s ability to prevent and respond to future health threats.
Deputy Incident Manager for Mpox at the Africa CDC Incident Management Support Team (IMST), Professor Yap Boum II, disclosed the developments on Friday during the weekly high-level regional news conference.
Boum II said the agency and its partners were reviewing performance of the Incident Management Support Team (IMST), a structure deployed during major outbreaks, to determine how emergency response systems could be integrated into a permanent preparedness framework.
According to him, the review is being conducted with partners including the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“In short, we are discussing how we transition from emergency response to routine preparedness and response and what lessons we have learned from managing outbreaks across the continent,” he said.
He explained that the exercise would lead to the development of a coordinated continental platform combining preparedness and response systems to strengthen Africa’s health security architecture.
He said recent outbreaks had created opportunities to reinforce surveillance systems, research collaboration and the capacity of countries to respond quickly to health emergencies.
Meanwhile, Prof. Boum II said that the Africa CDC said it is monitoring several outbreaks across the continent and providing technical support to affected countries.
In Malawi, he said Africa CDC had been engaging authorities over a malaria outbreak that had recorded 30 confirmed deaths out of 1,551 hospital admissions.
He said the situation had worsened in recent weeks, with an increase of more than 30 per cent in reported cases.
According to him, pregnant women and children were among the most affected groups, with children accounting for about 12 per cent of reported cases, raising concerns due to their vulnerability.
He said discussions with Malawi’s health authorities had focused on hotspot areas such as Katima Mulilo and other affected districts to strengthen targeted interventions.
“These interventions include reactive training for health workers in affected regions, strengthening surveillance and intensifying community education because malaria is also influenced by environmental factors,” he said.
He added that Africa CDC planned to deploy a technical mission to Malawi in the coming weeks to support the country’s response.
The Africa CDC official also highlighted challenges affecting vaccine delivery in some countries.
He explained that declining cases in countries such as Angola and South Africa had reduced the urgency among communities to continue vaccination campaigns.
“In some countries, outbreaks are approaching their end, which makes it more difficult to sustain community engagement in vaccination programmes,” he said.
He also noted that funding constraints had affected vaccine deployment after support from the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance began to decline.
According to him, Gavi had previously provided up to 12 million dollars in delivery support but many countries were now increasingly required to finance vaccine distribution using domestic resources.
He cited Uganda as an example, noting that the country had utilised about 88 per cent of the vaccines it received, with nearly three-quarters of the distribution funded through domestic resources.
“This is a good example of how countries are beginning to increase domestic investment in their health systems,” he said.
Boum II said cholera remained one of the most significant public health challenges on the continent.
He noted that the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for about 70 per cent of reported cholera cases and nearly 95 per cent of deaths in some reporting periods.
He attributed the situation to prolonged conflict, which had displaced millions of people into overcrowded camps with limited access to sanitation and clean water.
According to him, the country was also battling several other outbreaks simultaneously, including meningitis and other infectious diseases, placing further pressure on the health system.
Prof. Boum II said authorities in the DRC were implementing reactive vaccination campaigns in affected provinces while also planning preventive vaccination programmes aimed at providing longer-term protection in high-risk communities.
“These preventive campaigns are essential because they provide time for countries to strengthen infrastructure such as access to safe water and sanitation in areas where cholera is endemic,” he said.
He said Mozambique had recorded a gradual decline in cholera cases over the past three weeks, following intensified response measures.
He said the country was implementing both preventive vaccinations targeting 1.7 million people and reactive vaccination campaigns covering about 3.3 million people in high-risk areas.
He added that health authorities were strengthening cholera treatment centres and expanding access to safe water while distributing sanitation kits to communities in hotspot areas.
According to him, a regional technical mission would soon be deployed to Mozambique to support surveillance, case management and water, sanitation and hygiene interventions.
He said Namibia is gradually exiting a malaria outbreak and had recorded only three confirmed cases of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, with no deaths reported due to strong surveillance systems.
He added that Madagascar has recorded a sharp rise in cases but had introduced an innovative fractional vaccine dosing strategy that allows one dose to vaccinate three to four people.
The country, he said, was also recovering from cyclone impacts, prompting the African Union to plan a support mission to strengthen the health response and prevent secondary outbreaks such as cholera.
He said that in Burundi, authorities had reported about 16,000 cases but the case fatality rate remained relatively low at 0.4 per cent due to improved surveillance, contact tracing and coordination with partners.
He said Liberia was also showing signs of stabilisation, with only a small number of cases reported in recent weeks and a test positivity rate of about two per cent.
He said Africa CDC was currently convening discussions in Addis Ababa to strengthen local manufacturing of vaccines, diagnostics and medical supplies in order to reduce the continent’s dependence on external sources during health emergencies.
According to him, more than five million vaccine doses had already been shipped to 17 African countries, with 22 countries granting regulatory approval for their use.
He said vaccination remained a key tool in outbreak control, although it must be complemented by surveillance, public health education and improved access to water and sanitation.
Boum II emphasised that the lessons from recent outbreaks would help Africa CDC reshape its preparedness strategy.
He said ongoing workshops involving health experts and partners were expected to produce recommendations and a comprehensive framework integrating preparedness and response systems across the continent.
Experts said the transition from emergency response structures to permanent preparedness mechanisms remained critical for strengthening Africa’s ability to manage future pandemics and other health emergencies.
