From tighter budgets to bigger impact, Africa’s top health agency is now spending smarter, scaling faster, and showing that continental health security is no longer playing small.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says it has hit a major milestone—95% budget utilisation and a $463 million grant portfolio, marking a sharp turnaround under Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya.
According to the agency, this leap reflects serious institutional glow-up since 2023, moving from limited capacity to stronger coordination and faster outbreak response across Africa.
The recognition didn’t go unnoticed either—African heads of state have applauded the progress, describing it as a sign of growing health leadership on the continent.
Kaseya, in a message to staff, kept it humble, calling the success a team effort powered by “commitment, resilience, and everyday excellence.”
Budget performance jumped from 34% to 95%
Direct grant management rose from $52 million to $463 million
National public health institutes expanded from 19 to 36
Emergency operations centres doubled from 15 to 36
Countries with genomic surveillance capacity surged from 7 to 46
Africa CDC also revealed it has helped mobilise over $40 billion for member states and now leads 48 continental research projects, a massive shift from zero just a few years ago.
On the outbreak front, the agency has been in full response mode—handling threats like mpox, Ebola, cholera, and Marburg virus disease. In 2024, it even declared mpox a continental public health emergency for the first time, triggering a coordinated Africa-wide response with WHO and 28 partner organisations.
Behind the scenes, the agency says it is also strengthening Africa’s “health sovereignty agenda,” aiming to reduce dependency and build stronger, self-reliant systems across the continent.
Africa CDC isn’t just managing outbreaks anymore—it’s building a full-blown continental health defense system.
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