Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

Health Products Manufacturing Policy Study Tour Gives Africa a Strategic Boost

Africa CDC, in collaboration with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and PATH, conducted an in-depth assessment of the vaccine suppliers’ landscape to understand vaccine manufacturing in Africa

Africa CDC’s Platform for Harmonized Health Products Manufacturing (PHAHM), in collaboration with the Team Europe Support Structure (TESS) MAV+, organised a Study Tour on Policy Frameworks for Health Products Manufacturing to Europe in April. From analysing the policy mechanisms, regulatory environments, and frameworks that sustain and enhance the health products…

Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

Sierra Leone Fights Monkeypox

In April this year, IMST conducted a mission in Sierra Leone and found that the country’s health system was overstretched and overcrowded, with grossly inadequate bed capacity to accommodate more than 1,000 patients in mpox treatment facilities

Sierra Leone is the latest addition to the Incident Management Support Team (IMST) list of the most mpox-hit nations. Skyrocketing cases are triggering concern across Africa. Sierra Leone recorded its first case on January 10, 2025. Immediately after, Minister of Health Dr Austin Demby declared a Public Health Emergency, saying…

Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

Africa Turns to Monkeypox Lessons to Fight Cholera

Equally significant is strengthening the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism so that cholera vaccines, which in recent years have been in short supply, are manufactured on the continent

The rapid spread of cholera across the continent has sparked discussions on joint efforts to combat the disease, which has impacted 16 countries, with four facing severe outbreaks. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has raised the possibility of tackling cholera in the same way as…

Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

Cholera Plan to Map Hotspots in Five African Countries

The support being offered to these countries includes identification of cholera-prone areas and capacity development to harness country-level and regional platforms to control and eliminate cholera

Cholera hotspots are set to be identified in five African countries this year to guide the development of a roadmap for prevention, control, and elimination of this infectious disease that remains aggressive and prolonged in multiple countries in Africa. According to UNICEF, over 178,000 cases of cholera have been confirmed…

Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

New Advisory Group on Surveillance to Boost Africa’s Health Security

These initiatives support Africa CDC’s core mandate to monitor public health events across the continent, driving informed and timely public health actions

Improvements in the forecasting, monitoring, identification, and reporting of diseases are expected to take hold following the establishment of the Continental Surveillance Advisory Group (CSAG), aimed at bolstering Africa’s disease surveillance capabilities. This was among the key outcomes of a meeting hosted from 23 to 25 April 2025 by the…

Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

Africa’s Growing Pool of Lab Assessors

As Africa CDC looks ahead, initiatives like the Technical Assessor Training Program are central to its broader vision, an Africa where health threats are detected, prevented, and controlled swiftly and effectively by resilient, well-equipped systems

Africa’s need for more laboratory quality systems experts to improve the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of laboratory results, which are crucial for accurate diagnosis, disease surveillance, and evidence-based healthcare decision-making, is getting attention. The latest expansion of the continent’s pool of qualified laboratory assessors, essential for ISO 15189:2022 accreditation, a…

Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) |

Zimbabwe Revamps Labs Plan with Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) support

The new plan will help Zimbabwe meet its public health and epidemiological needs, clinical health, and the provision of safe blood and blood products, national reference laboratory function, quality assurance, teaching, and research

Zimbabwe looks forward to revamping its health infrastructure, technological tools, and skills development following a new five-year plan for national laboratories. In a major step towards strengthening laboratory systems across the continent, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), with funding from the World Bank, supported Zimbabwe…

Source: UN Women - Africa |

Kenya is shaping a gender equal future with the Women Leaders Network

Ms. Antonia N’Gabala Sodonon, UN Women Kenya Country Representative, emphasized UN Women’s role as the secretariat of the Women Leaders Network and its dedication to supporting the network’s operationalization and implementation of its Action Plan

The United Nation Office in Nairobi (UNON) hosted a Women Leaders Network event in celebration of International Women’s Day on 18th March 2025, aligning with this year's theme: “For All Women and Girls; Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” The event brought together network members, comprising women leaders from the United Nations agencies,…

Source: UN Women - Africa |

Kenya champions girls in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for a digital future

The disparity is even more acute in Africa, where just 30% of the technology workforce is female, in contrast with a 61% female labour-force participation rate in Sub-Saharan Africa according to UNESCO’s Cracking the Code Report

Kenya joined the global community on 24th April, 2025 in marking Girls in ICT Day under the theme, “Girls in ICT for Inclusive Digital Transformation.” Through a webinar organized under the Digital Platforms Kenya (DigiKen) programme (which is funded by the Joint SDG Fund) and led by UN Women in collaboration…

Source: UN Women - Africa |

Kenya Marks International Women’s Day 2025 in Homa Bay County: A Rallying Call for Rights, Equality, and Empowerment

The event brought together over 3,000 participants from local communities, the National and County Governments, civil society organizations, development partners, the private sector, and other stakeholders

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day dedicated to celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and girls, while also calling for renewed action to advance gender equality. First declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1975, IWD has since become a pivotal moment to…