Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya says the management of disease outbreaks among African Union – AU Member States has improved.
Dr Chilufya says Member States are now able to share information on how to detect and manage disease outbreaks in good time.
The Minister said this in a speech read for him by Zambia National Public Health Institute Acting Director Dr Kunda Musonda at the just ended Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention CDC Regional Media round table for Health Reporters in Southern Africa.
Dr Chilufya said in 2019 the Africa CDC Southern African Regional Collaborating Centre will focus on finalising the cholera elimination strategy and establishment of national public health institutes in each of the Member States in the region.
He said the Centre will also prioritise the establishment of cross border initiatives, which will help improve information sharing in the health sector in the region.
“We will also focus on establishing the regional integration surveillance and laboratory network to increase cooperation among health personnel and other professionals,” said Dr Chilufya.
The Minister said the Africa CDC is working with the World Health Organisation to provide technical support to help AU Member States accelerate the implementation of the International Health Regulations.
“The implementation of the International Health Regulations will lead to international health security by taking advantage of developments in biotechnology, surveillance systems and Information Communication Technology,” said Dr. Chilufya.
Dr Chilufya is particularly of the view that the developments can ease the timely detection of outbreaks, quick information sharing and rapid responses.
