Africa CDC - The African Mirror

Jan

2023

Africa should not be arena for international competition, says Chinese foreign minister

DAWIT ENDESHAW AFRICA should not be an arena for competition between world powers, China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Wednesday, opening a new headquarters for a pan-African health body at the start of a five-country Africa tour. Qin visited facilities of the African Union in Addis Ababa, including the new headquarters of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. China financed the complex's construction, as it previously did for the headquarters of the AU itself, also based in the Ethiopian capital. China has been Africa's largest trading partner for over a decade. It competes for influence with the…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa’s top public health body gets $100 mln from World Bank

NEWS

AFRICA'S main public health body, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), will receive $100 million from the World Bank to help African countries prepare for, detect and respond to disease outbreaks. The Africa CDC has played a major role in advising African countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and is also providing guidance on diseases like monkeypox. The World Bank said in a statement that the financial support would help boost the Africa CDC's technical capacity and include investments to increase the number of epidemiologists and outbreak responders. "The project will help to cultivate regional capabilities critical…

Jul

2022

By BHARGAV ACHARYA and NELLIE PEYTON

Africa in need of test kits, vaccines as monkeypox spreads

HEALTH

BHARGAV ACHARYA and NELLIE PEYTON AFRICA has no vaccines for monkeypox and test kits are in short supply, international health agencies said, warning that richer countries already appeared to be hoarding vaccines. Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions. It is endemic in parts of Africa but has also recently been reported in countries with no history of human transmission, including Ghana, Morocco and South Africa. "The geographic spread of monkeypox to parts of Africa where cases have never been detected before is a worrying sign," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO)…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa CDC has MOU with Pfizer for supplies of COVID-19 pill

COVID-19

AFRICA'S top public health agency has agreed on a memorandum of understanding with Pfizer to bring supplies of the pharmaceutical firm's Paxlovid antiviral COVID-19 pills to the continent, its director said on Thursday. Data from a mid-to-late stage study in November showed Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths compared to placebo, in adults at high risk of severe illness. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also said it was still talking to Merck about obtaining supplies of its molnupiravir COVID pill and a call was scheduled for this week about that.…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

Omicron BA.2 sub-variant more infectious but not more severe – Africa CDC

COVID-19

THE Omicron BA.2 sub-variant of COVID-19 appears to be more infectious than the original BA.1 sub-variant but does not cause more severe disease, the head of Africa's top public health body said citing data from South Africa. "South Africa is reporting that it is more transmissible than the BA.1 variant, but interestingly and very encouragingly the severity seems to be the same," said Dr John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. South Africa was one of the first countries to detect the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which has since swept around the globe and become…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Britain’s non-recognition of Africa-administered vaccines regrettable – AU

COVID-19

AYENAT MERSIE and GEORGE OBULUTSA THE African Union's (AU) top health official called Britain's lack of recognition for coronavirus vaccines administered in Africa regrettable, saying it sends a confusing public health message. England announced last week that it would expand the list of countries from which it recognises vaccines, adding 17 others beyond the initial list of the United States and Europe. None of those countries are in Africa. The British government sets coronavirus policy for England, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are in charge of their own rules. "We regret that the UK would take this position. We…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Give vaccines to Africa, ditch unproven third shot’

COVID-19

TIM COCKS RICH nations would do better to send vaccines to Africa to help fight the global COVID-19 pandemic rather than hoarding them for third-dose booster shots that scientific evidence does not back, the African Union's (AU) top health official said on Thursday. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) director John Nkengasong told a news conference he was baffled some rich countries were disregarding World Health Organization (WHO) advice to hold off from booster shots until more people were fully vaccinated worldwide. "The problem we have with the third doses is: we have not seen enough science…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Africa not winning against brutal COVID-19 pandemic’

NEWS

MacDONALD DZIRUTWE and OMAR MOHAMMED AFRICA is not winning its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as a third virus wave sweeps the continent and countries struggle to access enough vaccines for their populations, Africa CDC director John Nkengasong has said. The COVAX programme co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) for fair distribution of vaccines is planning a shake-up as it has been shunned by rich countries and failed to meet the needs of the poorest, internal documents seen by Reuters show. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) director Nkengasong said he was more worried about getting…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

“Africa is in the midst of a full-blown third-wave”

COVID-19

COVID-19 cases rose by over 20% week-on-week in nearly two dozen African countries and progress on vaccinating Africans is proceeding slowly, with just 0.79% of people on the continent fully vaccinated, senior health officials have disclosed. "Africa is in the midst of a full-blown third-wave...We've seen in India and elsewhere how quickly COVID-19 can rebound and overwhelm health systems," Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, told a news conference. New cases are up nearly 30% in the past week and deaths are up by 15%, she said, with five countries -- South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia, Uganda and Namibia --…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Malawi burns 20,000 expired vaccines

COVID-19

FRANK PHIRI MALAWI has destroyed 19,610 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that expired 18 days after arriving, despite assurances from the African Union (AU) and World Health Organisation (WHO) that the vaccines were safe until mid-July. A batch of 102,000 vaccines arrived on March 26, under an initiative by the AU and WHO, and they expired on April 13, leaving less than three weeks for them to be used. Malawi managed to deploy about 80 percent of them by that time. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), part of the AU, told…