The Director General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jean Kaseya has said that only 6,900 field and frontline epidemiologists exist to serve the estimated 1.4 billion Africans.
Kaseya who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen at the ongoing 2023 Conference on Public Health in Africa in Lusaka, Zambia, noted that Africa records at least two new outbreaks per week, totalling more than 100 outbreaks per year.
According to him, 75 per cent of the outbreaks are zoonotic in origin and are worsened by climate change.
Epidemiologists investigate the patterns, causes and effects of diseases in groups of people. They investigate the source of outbreaks of disease, how they are transmitted and how to stop and prevent further outbreaks.
According to Worldometre, the current population of Africa is 1,474,406,856 as of Monday, November 27, 2023, based on the latest United Nations estimates.
“As I speak, we have 18 countries affected by cholera with more than 4,000 deaths. We have multiple West African countries affected by dengue. The flooding in several countries including Libya, the earthquake in Morocco and several other natural disasters are showing the linkage of climate change and health in Africa.
“According to the Africa Development Bank, the continent loses 5-15 per cent of its GDP annually due to the impacts of climate change.
“Therefore, Africa CDC is committed to supporting African countries to adopt a comprehensive One-health approach to tackle these climate-related challenges,” Kaseya said.
The Africa CDC boss noted that less than 10 per cent of African countries can respond to a major outbreak with a skilled health workforce.
“Africa requires 6,000 field epidemiologists, yet, we currently only have 1,900. Additionally, the continent needs 25,000 frontline epidemiologists, but we presently have just 5,000.
“Africa CDC has introduced numerous programs and initiatives, such as Africa Volunteers Health Corps, Kofi Annan, and the Field Epidemiology Training Program, to bridge this gap. The excessive dependence on imports for essential healthcare products is also a matter of grave concern.
“Less than one per cent of vaccines, five per cent of diagnostics and 30 per cent of therapeutics used in Africa are currently manufactured in Africa. This imbalance underscores the urgent need to strengthen our medical manufacturing capabilities to enhance self-reliance and reduce vulnerability to supply disruptions,” he added.
He, however, stressed that the Africa CDC is advocating for an ambitious agenda that aims to ensure that by 2040, a minimum of 60 per cent of vaccines and medicines used in Africa are manufactured within the continent.
“As I have to say it, local manufacturing is the second independence of Africa, because it will mitigate our reliance on external sources, build our health security, promote local innovation, and lead to job creation, economic growth, peace and security,” he added.
