The African Union and the European Commission launched three joint health initiatives worth €100 million on Tuesday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, aiming to strengthen Africa’s pandemic preparedness and reduce reliance on external aid.
The first initiative supports national public health institutes in ten African countries to improve disease surveillance, early warning systems, emergency response, research and laboratory services. The second, announced earlier this month at the One Health Summit in León, focuses on combating antimicrobial resistance by training a workforce in an integrated human, animal and environmental health approach. The third expands digital health solutions for pandemic preparedness and primary healthcare in six African countries, emphasizing real-time disease surveillance and integrated data systems.
Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, said the partnership advances the continent’s Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda by building resilient systems, improving preparedness and reducing dependency through local production, financing and management of health priorities. Jozef Síkela, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, described health investment as a strategic necessity, not a gesture, warning that a regional health crisis can rapidly escalate into a global emergency, economic disruption and security threat.
Ethiopian Health Minister Dr Mekdes Daba welcomed the initiatives, noting that preparedness cannot be deferred after lessons from COVID-19, mpox and the recent Marburg outbreak. She emphasized that a health crisis in one region can quickly develop into a continental and global challenge.
The initiatives are implemented under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and aim to promote local manufacturing of vaccines and medicines to avoid health dependency. Officials highlighted the importance of digital transformation in strengthening outbreak detection and enabling more effective pandemic response mechanisms.
For more on this story, see AU Commission Chair Calls for Urgent Action at Sudan Conference in Berlin.
Dr Tolbert Geewleh Nyenswah, Director for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response at Africa CDC, said the initiative advances digital transformation across the continent, enabling countries to leverage data and emerging technologies to improve surveillance, service delivery and health outcomes. He also noted that Africa CDC is strengthening collaboration on innovation following engagements with Abiy Ahmed Ali, the African Union’s champion on artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
On financing, Nyenswah stressed the need for increased domestic investment and efficient resource leverage, observing that declining external assistance requires African countries to take greater ownership of their health systems. He called for a shift from fragmented, donor-driven interventions to coordinated, country-led approaches that deliver measurable impact for communities.
Síkela announced that the EU and AU are also developing a global health resilience initiative slated for launch in May, designed to bring together research, medical technology, innovation programmes, knowledge transfer and cooperation with regulatory agencies, health systems and skilled workforces to better equip health systems worldwide to prevent and respond to future crises.
This follows our earlier report, AU High Representative: South Sudan and Horn of Africa Focus.
How will the digital health component improve pandemic response?
The digital health initiative will strengthen real-time disease surveillance, integrate health data systems and improve coordination of public health responses in six African countries, while also expanding access to essential healthcare services at the primary care level through technology-driven solutions in underserved communities.
What is the One Health approach being promoted in the initiative?
The One Health approach integrates human, animal and environmental health systems to detect and prevent health threats, with a specific focus on addressing antimicrobial resistance by training a workforce capable of working across these interconnected domains.