Africa’s two leading public health institutions are seeking
1 billion USD for their partnership to respond to public health emergencies
triggered by climate change and conflict-related disasters, aiming to build
health security on the continent.
Africa Centres
for Disease Control (CDC)
and the World Health Organization (WHO) met on 27 May in Geneva, a year after
launching the Joint Emergency Preparedness and Response Action Plan (JEAP) at
the 76th World Health Assembly.
For the first time, the JEAP partnership developed 17
multi-country and regional proposals for submission to the second round of the
Pandemic Fund compared to fewer than three in the first round.
JEAP is a five-year strategic collaboration aimed at
boosting emergency preparedness and response efforts throughout Africa, helping
to ensure effective responses to disease outbreaks during humanitarian crises.
On average, 100 disease outbreaks are reported annually in Africa.
JEAP prioritizes strengthening surveillance intelligence and
genomic sequencing for quicker detection, stockpiling emergency supplies at
newly established sub-regional hubs to improve emergency response operations,
and deploying first responders within 24-48 hours of a disease outbreak. They
also plan to overcome supply chain barriers by reducing delays in delivering
lifesaving supplies from 20 days to 24-48 hours, mitigating morbidity and
mortality. The JEAP partnership welcomed UNICEF as the first partner to join
this partnership, which holds great promise for transforming health security on
the continent.