Ebola: Africa Better Prepared To Tackle Outbreaks – Africa CDC DG

The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, has said Africa is now better prepared to respond to Ebola and other public health emergencies on the continent.

Kaseya stated this while speaking on the latest Ebola outbreak on Channels Television’s Programme Morning Brief on Thursday, stressing the need for stronger health systems and effective disease surveillance across African countries.

According to him, the outbreak highlights the close relationship between humans, animals and the environment, making it necessary for countries to strengthen their preparedness and surveillance mechanisms.

“We are in Africa in a specific environment, and as you are seeing, this outbreak is coming also from animals to humans. It means we are in contact with the environment, but we can avoid that if we have a strong health system in place, strong surveillance maintenance in place,” he said.

Kaseya also cautioned against blaming international partners for challenges in containing disease outbreaks, saying such an approach would not help save lives.

“If we want just to blame our partners, we would not resolve any issues, and we are wasting our time when people are looking for support to stop this outbreak and to save lives,” he said.

On the source and possible spread of the latest outbreak, the Africa CDC chief said authorities were increasing surveillance and scrutiny in Uganda and other countries.

“What we are doing today is to increase the level of scrutiny in Uganda and all other countries,” Kaseya said.

He noted that although available information indicated that a woman came from Uganda, authorities were still working to establish the exact origin and transmission pattern of the outbreak.

“Yes, the history we know is the lady came from Uganda, but what we don’t know is, is it a transmission from Uganda, or Kampala, or is it a transmission that came from another place,” he added.

Kaseya said stronger surveillance, health systems and international cooperation remain critical to containing Ebola and preventing further spread across the continent.