African Union passed statute giving Africa CDC more independence

The African Union executive council approved the revised statute of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention — making official its transformation from a specialized technical institution of the AU to an autonomous public health agency, giving it more independence and making it more flexible in responding to health emergencies. Devex reported in June that the World Health Organization’s regional office for Africa objected to part of these revisions, including empowering Africa CDC to declare and coordinate health emergencies, advocating instead for further discussions, as this would overlap with functions WHO already performs. WHO had briefed many government representatives across the continent on this position. While the final documents on Africa CDC’s revised statutes have not yet been released, a spokesperson from Africa CDC told Devex the revised statute includes the agency’s ability to declare and coordinate health emergencies. The statute — which was approved during the AU’s midyear coordination meetings in Zambia — also contains revisions meant to increase the financial sustainability of Africa CDC, which include the establishment of the Africa epidemic fund. “This gives us strength to be able to secure this continent even better,” said Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of Africa CDC, said during an AU event on Saturday focused on strengthening emergency health responses on the continent. The initial decision to make Africa CDC more independent was made by heads of state in February, but a bureaucratic process followed within the AU in order to formally revise its statute. The executive council approval was the final stage in the process. Dr. John Nkengasong, the former director of Africa CDC, said last week during a Devex event that regions declaring their own health emergencies is a good idea: “There's nothing wrong in identifying a regional institution to identify an emerging infection, [and] squash it before it becomes a threat globally.” The Africa CDC was credited with effectively coordinating the COVID-19 pandemic response. It was established in the wake of the failures of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, which led to the loss of the lives of over 11,000 people. "Just imagine if COVID came around and we didn't have Africa CDC. Just imagine for a moment how many people would have been afflicted? How many people would have lost their lives? Your guess is as good as mine. But we know that it would have been devastating — more than what we've experienced so far,” Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema said during the AU event. Update, July 20, 2022: This article has been updated to clarify that a spokesperson from Africa CDC said the revised statute includes the agency’s ability to declare and coordinate health emergencies.