Africa CDC holds out hope for a pandemic treaty

The failure to finalize a pandemic treaty at the 77th World Health Assembly this week is an especially painful blow to Africa, which bore the brunt of the inequities that materialized during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, says he remains positive a deal can get done — possibly this year. “Let us say we made huge progress. We managed to agree on around 75 to 80% of the text,” the director-general told Devex during its CheckUp @ WHA77 event in Geneva on Wednesday. “Yesterday, you saw the South African ambassador, on behalf of all African countries, making the statement saying we want to finalize this agreement by the end of 2024. This is our position,” said Kaseya, whose agency served as an adviser to the African bloc of negotiators. “Africa needs this pandemic agreement. The world needs this pandemic agreement.” Africa also needs self-sufficiency to weather the next inevitable pandemic, which is why Kaseya says local manufacturing is so important. “Local manufacturing is the second independence of Africa. We will not move if we don't learn from COVID. And one of the major lessons from COVID was we didn't have access to health commodities,” he said. Access to health care is another challenge. Although Africa is home to roughly 18% of the world’s population, “we are carrying 23% of the global disease burden,” Kaseya said, noting also that just 3% of the global health workforce resides in Africa and that the continent only accounts for 1% of total health expenditure in the world. “This is a major issue.” It’s one of many issues Africa CDC is taking on as the young agency increases its autonomy and clout across the continent. It’s had growing pains along the way as it disentangles itself from the bureaucracy of the African Union, whose umbrella it falls under. Kaseya himself has also had his fair share of those growing pains as the agency’s new leader. After a series of whistleblower complaints, Kaseya ordered an audit to look into the accusations, which ranged from misusing funds to playing favorites. The auditors uncovered evidence to disprove some of the allegations, didn’t have full access to examine others, and raised concerns about weak financial controls and irregular hiring practices. Kaseya told Devex that when he joined the AU, “I was briefed by the senior management that every day people are sending anonymous letters against each person. It's not my culture. I was even surprised. But I'm leading an organization where I want transparency, accountability to be the rules, the principles.” To that end, he said the agency is putting in place safeguards such as an ethics office and ombudsman to promote a culture of speaking out. “We are there to take seriously all allegations, to address them, and to move on.”