Africa faces an “unprecedented surge” in public health emergencies, adding pressure on the continent’s already fragile health systems, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.
In its latest report issued Friday, the Africa CDC has called on African countries to strengthen innovative domestic financing mechanisms to address the emerging and existing public health challenges across the continent.
The Africa CDC made the urgent call while unveiling its two latest reports – Africa CDC Annual Report-2024 and Africa’s Health Financing in a New Era report, released Friday.
Highlighting the Africa CDC’s significant strides in promoting disease control and health security across the continent, the two reports provide mounting challenges that threaten to undo decades of progress in public health.
Data from the African Union’s specialised healthcare agency showed that the African continent, over the past 24 months, has witnessed an “unprecedented surge in public health emergencies,” rising by 41 percent — from 152 disease outbreaks in 2022 to 213 in 2024.
It said the surge in disease outbreaks has placed “immense pressure on already fragile health systems, exposing deep-seated vulnerabilities and severely weakening the continent’s capacity for timely and effective response.”
Noting that Africa’s health sector is facing a financing crisis, driven by a sharp decline of 70 percent in official development assistance from 2021 to 2025 and deep-rooted structural vulnerabilities, the Africa CDC underscored the urgent need to address health financing challenges in the continent through domestic resource mobilisation and innovative financing mechanisms.
It said the “sudden and significant reduction” in official development assistance has critically impacted health outcomes across Africa, directly causing disruptions in essential health services, including downgrading efforts on the response to ongoing outbreaks such as mpox, ebola, Marburg, and measles.
MG/as/APA