Johannesburg, Feb. 6, (dpa/GNA) – African nations have agreed to establish a new health organization for the continent in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A draft setting out the plan was approved by heads of state and government at a summit of the African Union (AU) in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa this weekend.
“The concept is endorsed,” John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Sunday. The AU health organization will provide the foundations for the new body, called the African Preparedness and Response Authority (APRA).
The CDC is seeking to pool the resources of African states and coordinate measures to combat Covid-19. The new organization will be given an autonomous structure that gives it extensive powers and allows it to report directly to the respective governments.
One of the organization’s main tasks will be designing a rapid response action programme for future pandemics, said Olive Shishana, head of the AU’s Covid commission. In her view, funding the new organization should not be difficult.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 10.8 million infections have been documented across Africa. However, experts believe the real number is much higher due to the many cases that go unreported on the continent of 1.3 billion people.
Nkengasong also announced several initiatives in the coming weeks to mobilize young Africans to help vaccination campaigns. Churches and religious groups are also to be involved.
GNA