Latest news with #outbreakresponse
Zawya
18-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Africa Launches Continental Strategy to Decentralize Diagnostics and Accelerate Outbreak Response
In a major step toward faster and more localized outbreak response, Africa CDC convened public health leaders from ten African countries in Yaoundé to co-develop a continental framework for decentralizing laboratory services. The four-day workshop, which began on 14 July, placed equitable access to diagnostics at the core of Africa's epidemic preparedness and response strategy. Organized by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Cameroon, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Union, the workshop brought together government officials, national laboratory directors, and public health experts from across the continent. Together, they produced the Continental Guidance for the Decentralization of Laboratory Services—a practical, action-oriented tool to help Member States design national diagnostic strategies that bring testing closer to communities and improve outbreak detection and response. 'Member States cannot respond effectively to outbreaks if diagnostic capacity is limited to national reference laboratories. Detection capabilities must be decentralized to sub-national levels and below to enhance early warning surveillance and timely confirmation of disease threats,' said Dr. Yenew Kebede Tebeje, Acting Director, Centre for Laboratory Diagnostics and Systems, Africa CDC. 'Decentralized laboratory services are also essential for achieving Universal Health Coverage.' Dr. Kakambi Christelle, a senior official from Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health, shared the country's approach to decentralizing diagnostics for epidemic-prone diseases. This includes strengthening regional laboratories, training personnel, establishing a national sample transport system, and conducting lab mapping to improve surveillance. 'Laboratory detection is the first line of defense in identifying potential outbreaks. Decentralizing labs widens the net, increasing our chances of catching the culprit pathogen early and guiding timely public health action,' said Rachel Achilla, WHO AFRO representative. Delegations from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) demonstrated how Mpox diagnostic capacity was expanded from just two laboratories to 56 in Burundi and 27 in DRC—within a single year—dramatically improving detection and case management. 'One of the key lessons learned from recent epidemics in Africa is the strategic value of decentralizing diagnostics to overcome sample transport delays and accelerate response,' noted Professor Pembe Issamou Mayengue, researcher at the National Public Health Laboratory, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. However, participants acknowledged that decentralization is not without challenges. While it brings diagnostics closer to communities, it also multiplies the burden on fragile health systems—particularly where data integration, trained personnel, equipment maintenance, supply chain management, electricity, and internet access remain unresolved. 'National Public Health Laboratories serve as the backbone of laboratory services decentralization by setting standards, guiding policy, ensuring quality, and mentoring peripheral laboratories. Their leadership is critical to building a resilient, responsive system,' emphasized Gifty Boateng, a public health researcher and academic from Ghana. Over four days, participants co-developed a practical, adaptive guideline rooted in African realities and global good practices. The document offers strategic orientations to help countries implement decentralization in ways that ensure ownership, institutional integration, and sustainability. 'If we move from two laboratories with chronic issues in sample collection, data flow, infrastructure weakness, and supply chain bottlenecks, decentralizing laboratories means multiplying these challenges in proportion to the expansion,' warned Yao Selom, Unit Lead for Laboratory Systems and Networks at Africa CDC. 'Our presence here is essential to guide, alert, and support Member States in identifying what to consider, how to prepare, and how to move forward.' This initiative is part of the Partnership to Accelerate Mpox and Other Outbreaks Testing and Sequencing in Africa (PAMTA) program, launched by Africa CDC and ASLM, and co-funded by the European Union through the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), and administered by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). It contributes to a broader continental effort to strengthen diagnostics, build technical capacity, and improve readiness for epidemic threats across Africa. Together, we can detect faster, respond smarter, and save lives! Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Zawya
04-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Study Validates Impact of International Teams in Africa's Outbreak Response
A new study carried out by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) confirms the critical role international health teams have played in strengthening outbreak response across the African continent. The study also highlights the need for more strategic and locally tailored support models to ensure long-term sustainability and effectiveness. Presented and validated during a high-level virtual workshop held from 23 to 24 June 2025, the study offers one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of international technical deployments and their impact on national outbreak preparedness and response systems in African Union (AU) Member States between 2020 and 2023. The findings show that international teams provided crucial short-term surge capacity across several public health domains, including surveillance, laboratory systems, epidemiology, infection prevention and control, clinical care, and risk communication. Notably, nearly half of all deployments supported two or more of these areas, underscoring their value in addressing multifaceted outbreak challenges. Beyond emergency response, the study details how international teams supported countries through the provision of equipment and infrastructure, the development of operational systems and protocols, the transfer of skills through training, the enhancement of coordination structures, and rapid deployment of human resources during critical capacity gaps. 'These deployments have delivered vital expertise, resources, and rapid response capacity at crucial moments,' said Dr Radjabu Bigirimana, Programme Lead for Africa CDC's African Volunteers Health Corps (AVoHC). 'However, they also raise important questions about sustainability, coordination, and how we strengthen long-term national preparedness systems.' While national stakeholders widely appreciated the contributions of international teams, the study also captured reflections from international partners on the importance of aligning deployments with local needs, existing national capacities, and longer-term health security goals. Effectiveness, the study found, often depended on the expertise of deployed personnel and their integration into existing national response systems. 'This workshop reinforces the need for global partnerships to evolve—where international deployments are not just reactive measures, but deliberate investments in national systems, tailored to local realities and long-term goals,' said Dr Edmund Newman, Director of the UK-PHRST. 'Evidence-informed learning must guide how we improve emergency public health deployments,' added Dr Femi Nzegwu, Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene&Tropical Medicine and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning lead at UK-PHRST. 'The findings of the report validate experiences across Africa but also point to what must change to ensure deployments are more effective, context-specific, equitable, and empowering for Member States.' The workshop resulted in the collaborative development of a roadmap to operationalise the report's recommendations, serving as a good practice guide on how to enable sustainable solutions in outbreak management among AU Member States. In turn, the report lays a foundation for reducing long-term reliance on external surge capacity by strengthening national health systems. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
