$1.6million Allocated to Nine National Public Health Institutes Centers of Excellence
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has set aside $1.6million for nine newly designated National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) across Africa as regional Centers of Excellence.
'As a Center of Excellence, your NPHI will serve as a regional hub for peer-to-peer technical assistance, training, and mentorship. It will also support Member States in developing or strengthening core NPHI functions, including disease surveillance, outbreak response, public health research, and workforce development,' said Africa CDC Director General, Dr Jean Kaseya, in a letter to the selected organisations on 31 January 2025.
The selection of institutes in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Rwanda follows a rigorous assessment of NPHIs across Africa and aligns with Africa CDC's mission to enhance disease control policies and strengthen public health capacities in Member States.
The agency has allocated $1.6million for equipment and training to the Centres across the continent. 'We are planning different types of support, but this year we will be equipping them to start National Data Management Centres. We will be procuring servers and computer software, including training,' said Haftom Taame, Principal Technical Officer, Public Health Institutes and Research at Africa CDC.
NPHIs from Mozambique, Liberia and Burundi will be prioritized in 2025 to get ISO 9001 accreditation to improve operational efficiency through streamlined processes.
Starting in the second quarter of this year, Taame said Africa CDC, working with the European CDC, will be twinning, the Centers of Excellence with European NPHIs so they can learn from best experience.
As part of strengthening the NPHI's, we will also focus on leadership and management- a continuation of what the Centre of Public Health started last year, supporting seven countries. This year, four rounds of training will be conducted to build leadership and management capacity of NPHIs across the continent.
'We will help them to build capacities for the essential public health functions including research, surveillance and information system, emergency response coordination, workforce development and corporate governance and leadership.
'Once we establish these Centres, they will support regional Member States in their respective regions to establish NPHI's and build their capacities,' Taame said, adding that it is not easy for Africa CDC to serve all member states from its headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Taame said the biggest challenge in managing health security in Africa is the fragmented approach to outbreaks and infections. In many countries, core public health functions are handled by different departments or agencies, he said. 'For example, surveillance is managed in one place, response is handled elsewhere, and the lab is in another centre. These entities are not linked to the department that responds to the outbreak or the lab that detects the infection to coordinate the response,' he said.
Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), welcomed the decision to designate his institution as a Center of Excellence.
'This recognition is a testament to the dedication of our public health professionals. As a Center of Excellence, we will continue leading efforts in disease surveillance, emergency response, and capacity building for the African continent,' he said.
NPHIL's selection as a Center of Excellence marks a significant milestone for Liberia, a country that has faced major public health challenges, including the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides supporting regional Centers of Excellence, an Africa CDC performance review held in Arusha, Tanzania, in January 2025, noted delays in the legal process of Member States establishing NPHIs as autonomous institutions. The review also highlighted a lack of top leadership commitment, insufficient resources to operationalise newly established NPHIs, and inadequate staffing to run all programmes within the Centers. The meeting recommended facilitating high-level advocacy efforts targeting parliamentarians, relevant sectors, and key partners. It also called for strengthening country engagement, mobilizing resources through strategic partnerships, and fast- tracking staff recruitment and contract issuance.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
a day ago
- Zawya
A Call to Action to End Cholera in Africa by 2030
On 4 June 2025, twenty African Union Member States most affected by cholera convened for an extraordinary high-level meeting, following a call by Africa CDC and under the leadership of H.E. President Hakainde Hichilema, AU Champion on Cholera. This historic gathering of Heads of State and Government marked a turning point in the fight against cholera across the continent. Leaders endorsed a unified Call-to-Action to eliminate cholera in Africa by 2030—anchored in national ownership, local vaccine production, integrated WASH systems, and coordinated continental response. Africa CDC is committed to supporting Member States and partners to turn this political resolve into measurable action, securing Africa's health sovereignty and ending cholera once and for all. Download the Call-to-Action here. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Zawya
2 days ago
- Zawya
African Leaders, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and Partners Unite in Bold Drive to Fight Cholera
In a historic demonstration of political resolve and continental unity, twenty African Union (AU) Member States affected by cholera convened on 4 June 2025 for a high-level virtual meeting, following a call by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and under the leadership of H.E. Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia and AU Champion on Cholera. The meeting brought together ten Heads of State and Vice-Presidents—representing Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe—alongside Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers of Health, Finance, and Water and Sanitation. Global health partners, including WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, the Global Fund, and others, also participated to forge a united front in the fight against cholera. As of May 2025, Africa has reported approximately 130,000 cholera cases and 2,700 deaths, representing 60% of global reported cases and an alarming 93.5% of cholera-related deaths. Angola, the DRC, Sudan, and South Sudan remain among the most severely affected. In his opening address, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, called for bold leadership and systemic change: 'The people of Africa are watching. They expect bold, coordinated, and unwavering leadership that puts their health and dignity first. This crisis demands action at the highest political level. Only through the direct engagement of our Heads of State can we drive the elimination of cholera by 2030. This requires a continental shift—strong national leadership, domestic investment, integrated national actions, and regional coordination. We must also break the cycle of dependency by accelerating vaccine manufacturing and ensuring equitable access to life-saving tools.' H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of Angola and Chairperson of the African Union, underscored the need for transformative investments: 'To tackle this disease, we must invest robustly in water, sanitation, and health systems. This is our moment to turn historic challenges into real opportunities for economic and social development.' Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, emphasized the systemic drivers of the crisis—limited WASH infrastructure, insecurity, weak coordination, and vaccine shortages: 'Africa needs 54 million doses of oral cholera vaccine annually but receives barely half. This gap is unacceptable. Urgent action is needed to scale up local production and secure supply.' Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, welcomed the leadership shown: 'I commend the Heads of State for their vision and commitment. WHO will intensify its support to affected countries through this Call to Action.' African leaders committed to operationalizing the Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST), building on the successful mpox response, to reinforce cross-border surveillance. At the national level, they pledged to establish Presidential Task Forces on Cholera to strengthen multisectoral coordination, mobilize domestic resources, and enforce accountability frameworks. They further emphasized scaling up local vaccine manufacturing, expanding WASH infrastructure, and deepening partnerships with the private sector. Etleva Kadili, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, reminded leaders that children are most affected: 'Children bear the brunt of this crisis. Bold action and unwavering political will are urgently needed.' Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, reported significant improvements in vaccine availability—from 2 million doses in 2013 to over 21 million in 2025—and the delivery of 1.9 million rapid diagnostic kits to support outbreak detection. She reaffirmed Gavi's commitment to supporting local manufacturing in Africa through the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) and urged global support for Gavi's upcoming replenishment. In closing, H.E. Hakainde Hichilema reaffirmed his commitment to report back to the AU Assembly on progress: 'We have issued a clear Call to Action. Now we must deliver—through scaled-up domestic investments, strengthened cross-border coordination, and community-driven responses. Africa needs one continental IMST, one community-centered plan, and one accountability framework.' The meeting marks a turning point in Africa's response to cholera—anchored in high-level political ownership, multisectoral collaboration, and continental solidarity. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Arabian Post
3 days ago
- Arabian Post
TikTok Eliminates #SkinnyTok Amid Mounting Pressure Over Harmful Diet Content
TikTok has removed the hashtag #SkinnyTok from its platform, responding to escalating concerns over content promoting extreme weight loss and disordered eating behaviours. Users searching for the term are now redirected to resources offering support for body image and eating disorders. The decision follows sustained scrutiny from European regulators, particularly in France, where officials have criticised the platform for enabling the spread of content that glamorises unhealthy body standards. Clara Chappaz, France's Minister for Digital Affairs, characterised the removal as a 'collective victory' and reiterated her commitment to safeguarding minors online. TikTok stated that the hashtag had become associated with content violating its community guidelines by promoting dangerous dieting practices, including extreme calorie restriction and excessive water consumption. Although the platform had previously attempted to mitigate exposure by restricting such content to users over 18 and adjusting search suggestions, many harmful videos continued to circulate. ADVERTISEMENT The platform has faced criticism for featuring influencers like Liv Schmidt, who promoted these dangerous practices. Her content was eventually removed after media scrutiny, and she later lost her monetisation privileges on Instagram as well. Despite the removal of the hashtag, concerns persist. Typing 'SkinnyTok' into the app now redirects users to wellness advice, but similar harmful content still thrives under altered or misspelled hashtags. Advocates argue that while the ban is a positive step, it is insufficient to address the broader issue of harmful content on the platform. TikTok's actions come amid a broader push by the European Union to hold social media platforms accountable for harmful content. The European Commission has been investigating TikTok's risk management of addictive design and harmful content since February 2024. The platform's decision to ban #SkinnyTok may be seen as an effort to demonstrate compliance with regulatory expectations. Experts warn that the proliferation of content promoting disordered eating on social media platforms like TikTok can have serious consequences for young users' mental health. Studies have shown that exposure to such content can lead to increased body dissatisfaction and a higher risk of developing eating disorders. Health professionals emphasise the need for more robust content moderation and greater awareness of the dangers posed by these online communities.
