During a forum in Namibia this week, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya announced that in the next two to three years, his agency “will take over and play the role that the UNICEF Supply Division in Copenhagen is playing by procuring and supplying African countries with essential commodities with a preference for products made in Africa.”
This garnered laughs on social media with one X user stating how “unrealistic” the timeline is, especially as the continent still struggles to expand its capacity to produce medical products.
And that’s just one of the challenges the continent is facing. Africa CDC’s work and ambitions have significantly expanded after it rose to become Africa’s leading public health agency, but it still needs to get its house in order in many ways.
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My colleague Sara Jerving obtained a copy of a special audit report by the African Union that raised concerns about how the agency is managed, including issues with procurement, oversight, and hiring practices. Kaseya had asked for the audit to examine a raft of whistleblower accusations against him.
Africa CDC staff and its implementing partner failed to adhere to the AU’s rules when they hired an event planner for their flagship conference last November in Zambia, the audit found. Only four companies were invited to bid for the service when it should’ve been open to the public. The chosen company was also paid significantly more than what it was originally awarded. The auditors warned that a failure to follow the rules could create an “avenue for fraud.”
Kaseya told auditors he was unaware at the time that his staff and AFENET, the implementing partner, had flouted the AU’s procurement rules. But AFENET said the decision to increase the contract size to a whopping $1.6 million from $618,638 was personally approved by Kaseya.
The audit also found that Kaseya was involved in some questionable hiring practices. In one case, he hired a person who “basically failed the interview.”
Auditors did find reasonable explanations for some of the accusations leveled against Kaseya. For example, he was alleged to have misused donor funds in the purchase of a vehicle that cost over $120,000 while also having access to an AU car. But the audit found the AU car was only on loan, and that the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation — one of the agency’s donors — agreed to buy him a car.
Auditors warned that the issues raised in the audit pose reputational risks for the agency, putting into question its credibility and transparency. Kaseya acknowledged some of Africa CDC’s shortcomings, discussed steps the agency is taking to remedy them, and welcomed recommendations.
Prominent global health practitioner and humanitarian Mukesh Kapila said in a post on X that this type of mismanagement is a betrayal to African people. He said there is “sleepy governance” and that donors have pushed the organization “too hard and fast.”
Exclusive: Africa CDC audit warns against creating an 'avenue for fraud'
+ Devex Pro members can read about Africa CDC's struggles to finance its growth.
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COVID-19 showed the world there’s much to improve when it comes to responding to global health emergencies. But it also shone a light on the importance of health and the wealth of experts, leaders, and innovators helping to make the world’s population live healthier lives, some of whom made it in Time magazine’s first “100 Most Influential People in Health” list.
The list includes some familiar names, such as Medicines Patent Pool’s Charles Gore, Stop TB Partnership Global Drug Facility’s Brenda Waning, and WHO Chief Scientist Jeremy Farrar.
People who rose to prominence during COVID-19 were also featured: Peter Hotez, who helped develop the first open-source COVID-19 vaccine, and Tulio de Oliveira, who led the team that discovered the omicron COVID-19 variant in South Africa and is now helping build genomics capacity across the continent. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, whose company developed the first messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine, was also included despite criticisms of profiteering and not sharing vaccine technology and know-how with manufacturers from low- and middle-income countries.
High-profile people and celebrities also made the list: French President Emmanuel Macron for recently enshrining women’s right to abortion in the country’s constitution; former U.S. President Jimmy Carter for his work to eradicate Guinea worm; Oscar winner Halle Berry for lobbying lawmakers for more research into menopause; and actress Olivia Munn for raising awareness to early detection of breast cancer.
And then there are people whose work could serve as game changers in the years to come, including Alka Dwivedi on lowering cancer treatment costs; Scott O’Neill on preventing mosquitoes from carrying deadly viruses; and Hadiza Galadanci on preventing maternal mortality.
+ If given the chance, who would you include in the list? Let us know by emailing checkup@devex.com, and we might feature your comments in the next edition of CheckUp.
Over 1 million
—That’s the number of children aged zero to 14 years old who fall sick with tuberculosis every year, yet only less than half of these cases get diagnosed or reported. That means over half a million children aren’t getting the treatment they need to rid themselves of this ancient disease.
The numbers are similarly stark for children with drug-resistant TB. Only about 12%-16% of children and young adolescents with multidrug-resistant TB or rifampicin-resistant TB were diagnosed and therefore treated in 2022.
Children under 5 years old account for the largest undiagnosed age group, likely due to the difficulties in diagnosing them. Currently available tests aren’t designed specifically for kids. Children aren’t used to expelling sputum, while gastric aspiration is an uncomfortable procedure that can lead to false negative results. In 2020, WHO recommended using stool samples to diagnose TB in children, an easier and painless method, but as of yet it’s not widely used.
Read: The harsh reality of multidrug resistant TB in children
At the WomenLift Health conference in Tanzania last month, gender activists lamented stagnating funding for maternal health. According to Donor Tracker, total official development assistance for maternal, newborn, and child health flatlined between 2017 and 2021 at around $10 billion annually, with over half coming from bilateral donors in 2021.
They are concerned that philanthropists have paid more attention to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, for which the Global Fund was set up. Yet, there’s no special funding for maternal health.
But some philanthropic foundations are trying to fill the gaps. For example, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting innovations that prevent infections during pregnancy and postpartum hemorrhage. It is also supporting collaborative types of philanthropy.
“Collaborative funds are one of the fastest growing and highest impact drivers of philanthropy. Research shows that collaboratives are significantly more likely than traditional foundations to prioritize racial or gender equity or to be led by women or people of color, attributes that are especially relevant for improving maternal health outcomes,” Katelen Kellogg, communications officer at the Gates Foundation’s philanthropic partnerships team, tells Devex contributor David Njagi.
Read: Gender activists want more philanthropic funding for maternal health
The Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Novo Nordisk Foundation have teamed up to tackle global health challenges under a new $300 million partnership. [Forbes]
There are only three days of fuel left to run health services in the south of Gaza, WHO said on Wednesday. [Reuters]
Why WHO’s Jeremy Farrar says social context is also key when responding to disease threats like the H5N1 strain of bird flu. [STAT]
Update, May 10, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify sourcing for comments made by Katelen Kellogg.