Your Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia and host of this high-level side event,

Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government here present,

Your Excellencies Heads of Delegation,

Invited Guests,

Distinguished Partners;

Ladies and Gentlemen

I wish to thank you, Your Excellency President Hichelema, for hosting us at this very important meeting and also for gracing this occasion at a critical time for our Continent for its health security agenda. May I first congratulate you, Mr. President, on your appointment as Cholera Control Champion by the W.H.O.

We are also pleased to be here as Lusaka hosts one of the Regional branches of the Africa CDC, which is another contribution and mark of commitment of this great country Zambia to the efforts of the African Union in continuation of its work during the OAU

It gives me great pleasure to join you and our Heads of State and Government here to share our thoughts on how we can improve the health and safety of our peoples in Africa.

The last two and a half years have been very difficult for Africa not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because the challenges faced by our health systems which exposed their fragility and precariousness. As a Continent, we are learning important lesson that should motivate us into action to improve our health systems and strengthen the way in which we work together as neighbours. Health security is definitely part of Africa’s overall security.

The work of Africa CDC is guided by our Agenda 2063 which aspires to build the Africa We Want. Our Africa CDC is one of the key institutions that we rely upon to deliver on the vision of Agenda 2063. A healthy mind in a healthy body.

You will also recall, Your Excellencies, that the lesson we learnt in preparing for and responding to disease threats on the Continent, led us to devise a new way for Africa to ensure our health security. This is embodied in Africa’s New Public Health Order and we call upon all of us, Member States and partners, to support the African Union and its Africa CDC to successfully implement this vision and strategy. The New Public Health Order has five (5) key pillars:

1. Strengthening Continental and national level institutions that contribute to public health – this includes Africa CDC and Africa Medicines Agency (AMA) at the Continental level;
2. Strengthening our public health workforce – which includes training the right professionals in adequate numbers then deploying them where they are needed the most at country and Continental levels;
3. Local manufacturing of all health products that we need including diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to ensure that our supply chain for these life-saving items is secure;
4. Partnerships that are action-oriented and respectful of our priorities in Africa; and
5. Mobilising domestic resources including professionals, technology and funds, so that Africa can respond faster to any disease threats.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have witnessed, in recent time, increasingly disturbing patterns of disease threats and public health emergencies that continue to grow in scale and which have negatively impacted the lives and livelihood of our peoples. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a major scourge, one of several concurrent health outbreaks that we had to bear over the last two years. What started as a single COVID-19 case late in 2019, aggressively spread across the whole world presenting one of the most serious global health crises with huge socio-economic costs. Sadly, we have lost over 250,000 lives of our fellow citizens here in Africa to the COVID-19 pandemic. We must remember that this number is our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, relatives, and friends. The number could have been higher if we did not respond quickly and effectively, through the common Health Strategy adopted by our Health Ministers in February 2020. The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic alone pushed an estimated 55 million Africans into extreme poverty, reversing more than two decades of economic growth and progress in poverty reduction on the Continent.

It is, therefore, timely that H.E President Hichilema, with the support of Our Africa CDC, the premier public health institution in Africa, convened us today, here, in Lusaka, to discuss an initiative that has proven its effectiveness in coordinating public health response. Public Health Emergency Operations Centres are key to the way that we prepare for and respond to health emergencies. These Centres collect and produce data and evidence that we can use to respond rapidly to disease threats. They form the backbone of our early warning systems so that no outbreak will be allowed to spread and cause harm to large segments of our populations. These Centres should, ideally, be operational throughout the year so that we remain in full preparedness and that our Experts continue to do this life-saving work consistently. We have seen the benefits of effective Public Health Emergency Operations Centres when we identify and rapidly control disease outbreaks such as Ebola, Polio, Yellow Fever, Cholera and others.

An investment in these Centres is a smart investment. Evidence from many countries has shown that where we have these Centres, countries are able to plan better, identify disease threats faster and therefore respond in a timely manner. As we share our experiences and collectively align our approaches to strengthening this component of our public health resilience architecture, let us also make it an urgent agenda for our health security.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As events of public health importance continue to threaten the health and safety of our peoples, we must be steadfast in our resolve to strengthen our emergency preparedness and response landscape. The new Statute of Africa CDC, as adopted by the Executive Council, during the just concluded session, has provided a strong basis for Africa CDC to expand support to our Member States to strengthen or establish Public Health Emergency Operations Centres. I urge all African Union Member States and our partners to prioritise the implementation of these Centres as a critical pillar in health emergency preparedness and response. It is equally important to anchor these Centres within National Public Health Institutes or Ministries of Health. I hope that the discussions today will provide practical steps for establishing coordination mechanisms at Regional and National levels and a sustainable Roadmap to maximise the benefits of fully functional Emergency Operations Centres.

However, it is important that we consider, in the light of the resources constraint - financial, infrastructure, scientific and others- pooling our efforts and approaches. Instead of working in separate individual silos it will be more beneficial if we act in terms of Regional Centres catering for many countries in the Region and maximise all efforts and chances of greater success.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am confident that the outcomes today will pave the way, through concrete action, for us to commit to strengthening our Public Health Emergency Operations Centres in Africa. The Commission, through the Africa CDC, will support the implementation of the Conclusions of this important meeting as part of our mandate in the New Public Health Order.

I thank you.