African states develop harmonized disease surveillance

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA (AA) - African Union health ministers and leaders of global and regional health groups met on Monday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for a two-day symposium that is expected to launch a five-year continent-wide disease surveillance and control plan on the African continent.

The African Union's Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) strategy was launched last week, after the Ebola epidemic killed tens of thousands in a period of two years in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone until 2016.

"Each region in Africa is unique in terms of the kind of pandemic it faces so we need to create a well coordinated disease surveillance system and networked labs," Sheila Tamara Shawa, project officer with the African CDC told Anadolu Agency.

She said: "Also, in terms of surveillance and workshop capacities, countries in Africa differ so the effort at harmonizing surveillance would also help share relevant experiences."

The African CDC is operational so far with contributions from member states.