Addis Abeba – The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and France have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, marking a shared commitment to expand their partnership in public health. Through this Memorandum, the French development agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), will provide a grant amounting to 2.4 million euros under two pillars, devoted to supporting Africa CDC’s mandate in Africa’s public health, particularly in emergency preparedness and response.
The first portion of the grant will support the development and strengthening of the Africa CDC Health Economics Unit (HEU) over a period of two years, through the recruitment of staff and facilitate the creation of a framework for collaboration in the field of health economics across the continent. With Africa CDC championing the continental response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to support the HEU in its areas of work with the expertise required for evidence-based policies and programs.
The second part aims at improving COVID-19 vaccination coverage in targeted countries and strengthening national and regional institutional capacity for addressing health challenges.
Since mid-2021, Africa CDC has been supporting vaccination activities across Africa through the Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) program around four pillars: purchasing vaccine doses; supporting the deployment of vaccines; strengthening manufacturing of human vaccines and building institutional capacity. Under the current MoU and as part of the SLL program, Africa CDC and AFD, in partnership with Amref Health Africa, will invest in locally-led action – including Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) and support national vaccination strategies to intensify vaccination roll out and increase uptake.
Through this Memorandum, Africa CDC and AFD express their commitment towards joining efforts in helping countries strengthen their public health and laboratory systems. The two organizations pledged to maintain close collaboration for the achievement of the health and development objectives of the African Union beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Dispatch
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