by Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 22nd July 2022– Africa CDC has received a USD 100 million grant from the World Bank to strengthen Africa’s preparedness and response capabilities to health emergencies. The support programme will enhance Africa CDC’s technical capacity and strengthen institutional frameworks that will enable the agency to plan better, prepare effectively, and respond faster to any health security threat on the continent.
Africa CDC welcomes the trust and confidence shown by the World Bank’s commitment to furthering Africa’s health security agenda. Africa CDC will seize this momentum of implementing Africa’s vision of a New Public Health Order to guide transformative investments for the continent’s medium- to longer-term health security. As Africa CDC stands up as an autonomous institution of the Africa Union, we see the World Bank investment as a recognition of the leadership and importance of the Africa CDC in safeguarding the continent’s health.
“This is a significant investment that Africa CDC has received to strengthen its institutional framework and improve support to AU Member States to enhance core preparedness and emergency response capacities in line with the continent’s New Public Health Order” said Dr. Ahmed Ouma, Acting Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. “This support has enhanced our partnership with the World Bank and comes at a pivotal time when the AU Executive Council Decision has granted Africa CDC autonomy, and directed that we fully operationalize our mandate. We look forward to expand our collaboration to maximize the impact of this crucial investment in guaranteeing the future health of the continent”, he emphasized.
This support programme comes just as the African Union (AU) Executive Council granted Africa CDC autonomy by approving the new Statute and set the stage for a more efficient institution. The areas that this programme will implement will go to directly implement the decisions of the AU’s Executive Council. Furthermore, given that the Africa CDC is still a growing continental institution, this support programme comes at a time when the institution is harnessing and building upon the gains made during COVID-19 response for a sustainable, continent-wide impact on the public health agenda.
“Our investment in the Africa CDC underscores the World Bank’s long-term commitment to supporting African-led regional institutions and Africa’s public health preparedness agenda. Diseases do not respect borders and must be tackled collectively, requiring trusted leadership at the regional level and strong health systems across the continent.” The World Bank Regional Director for Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Northern Africa noted while commenting on the grant.
The grant will also support the institution in advancing multi-sectoral public health agendas such as the One Health approach and anti-microbial resistance (AMR). Further, this programme will complement existing World Bank support and strengthen the relationship between African institutions on the preparedness agenda including domestic financing, innovative thinking, and timely action. Africa CDC and the African Union commends the World Bank’s commitment to Africa.
Source: africacdc
