Africa CDC extols China’s commitment for supporting Africa's youngest institution

Reiterating China's support in a range of health interventions in Africa, the Head of Policy and Health Diplomacy at the Africa Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC), Benjamin Djoudalbaye, hailed China's commitment to supporting Africa's youngest institution. Speaking to Xinhua on Thursday, April 4, Djoudalbaye recalled that China was among the first partners to come and support Africa CDC, when the call was made following the decision by the AU heads of states to establish the institution.

Officially launched in 2017, the Africa CDC has developed and been implementing its five-year strategic plan, from 2017 to 2021, focusing on five areas, including surveillance and disease intelligence and emergency preparedness and response. According to Djoudalbaye, China has been supporting the Africa CDC along with the five priority areas of the strategic plan.

China is supporting us technically in all technical component of institutions like CDC, he said, adding China also sent experts to work as advisors in this journey of Africa CDC. Now the second batch of Chinese experts is deployed following the first batch that has already left after serving a 12-month period. The Africa CDC and the China CDC earlier this year decided to develop a partnership agreement that will strengthen and make collaboration between the two institutions more result-oriented. The Chinese government had also pledged assistance to help with the construction of Africa CDC, as reported by Xinhua.

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