Time has come for Africa to establish and maintain strong public health institutions.
President William Ruto said the continent should also enhance its capacity to manufacture its own vaccines and stop relying on imports.
He spoke in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday, during the inaugural ministerial forum by the Africa Centres for Disease Control.
The President said Africa must invest in public health workforce to support institutions with skilled professionals.
He noted that these interventions call for increased domestic investment in health and robust resource mobilisation.
The President said the shift is critical because future health threats and disease outbreaks “are going to be more complex and lethal”.
“Our ability to detect and respond quickly to them and to design data-driven interventions and programmes will become increasingly vital going forward,” he said.
He lauded the appeal by the Africa Union Commission to governments, multilateral organisations and the private sector to support the full implementation of Africa’s Public Health Order.
This, he reiterated, will drive global health security.
