Africa CDC Gets New Director-General

The Assembly of the African Union has appointed Jean Kaseya of the Democratic Republic of Congo as Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) for a mandate of 4 years.

He will oversee the delivery of the core functions and key objectives of the organization as per its statute.

Establishing event-based surveillance in order to detect potential disease threats from informal, non-structured sources that often circulate outside the official health sector is one of the mandates of the Africa CDC.

Providing assistance for member states to address gaps in international health regulation compliance and support public health emergency preparedness and response are also the other mandates stipulated in the statute of the institution.

The director-general will also be responsible for the formulation and implementation of substantive work programs for the regional collaborating centers and ensure that programmed activities are carried out in a timely fashion, according to African Union Commission.

Africa CDC is a specialized technical institution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of member states and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats.

It also provides support to strengthen capacity in public health infrastructure, human resource capacity, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters.

The headquarters of Africa CDC is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopia News Agency