African health leaders are calling for a “new public health order” on the continent, which centers around countries building up domestic capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks, as well as lessen the dependence of countries’ health needs abroad. Strong national public health institutes are critical to this, health leaders on the continent said during the first international public health conference for the African continent held this week.
One of the model national public health institutes on the continent is the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, its former director general, and currently the World Health Organization’s assistant director-general of health emergency intelligence, outlines the experience of NCDC, emphasizing that now is the time for countries to invest in creating or strengthening existing institutes.
“This is not really a time for scratching around at the edges. This is a time for bold and radical changes,” he said.