Durban — Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the threat of new pandemics still looms, and the urgency remains. As the fourth International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2025) began in Durban, South Africa, a big question emerged: Is Africa prepared for the next pandemic?
In his opening remarks at a press briefing, Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC, gave a straightforward answer: “No, we are not ready.”
This event, a key initiative of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), gathered scientists, policymakers, and global partners to address urgent health challenges. These included the ongoing mpox outbreak and the continent’s preparedness for future pandemics. Africa continues to be vulnerable to public health crises due to a relentless barrage of disease outbreaks. From mpox and Ebola to malaria and cholera surges.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has been at the epicenter, battling a resurgent mpox epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives amid ongoing conflict and displacement, along with a new Ebola outbreak in Kasai Province that has reported 64 confirmed or probable cases and 45 deaths as of October – although vaccinations and surveillance have contained the outbreak to no new cases since October. No new cases have been detected since the last patient was discharged. The WHO hopes to declare the outbreak over in early December 2025.
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Africa’s health infrastructure is being strained by conflict, underfunding, and environmental concerns.
Dr. Kaseya outlined deficiencies in governance, funding, human resources, data management, and coordination with partners. “When there is an outbreak, my first question is, where do we find vaccines, medicine, diagnostics?” he said, highlighting Africa’s reliance on imported commodities. However, he noted progress in local manufacturing, such as Mpox diagnostics, and announced an upcoming consultation on a digital transformation agenda to enhance health sovereignty.
“We have made progress since 2020, but we still face significant challenges in governance, funding, human resources, data management, and access to medical commodities.”
Dr. Kaseya said that while many African countries have established National Public Health Institutes, the continent’s preparedness systems remain underfunded and fragmented. “When an outbreak occurs, we still scramble to put in place ad hoc committees that dissolve as soon as the crisis is over,” he said, calling for stronger institutional memory and permanent structures to respond to health threats.
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He said that Africa continues to depend heavily on imports for diagnostics, vaccines, and medicines.
“My first question when there is an outbreak is: where do we find vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics? This is why we are pushing for local manufacturing,” he said.
The 2025 edition of CPHIA is being held in South Africa, chosen deliberately, Dr. Kaseya said, to align with the country’s G20 presidency and ensure that scientific voices shape policy decisions at upcoming ministerial and presidential meetings.
“We wanted scientists to take the lead,” he said. “Africa must show that it is led by science.”
