Strengthening African health systems through global health diplomacy

摘要

Nepomnyashchiy et al1 in their recent Lancet publication highlight thedeficiencies in African health systems for handling COVID-19. They discuss human resources, non-availability of supplies and emphasize on building resilient health systems with community health workers at the grassroot level. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa accounts for a quarter of the global mortality and morbidity burdens of communicable and non-communicable diseases but its share of global health expenditure is less than 1%, leaving more than half of its population without access to essential health services.2 To their credit the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a technical institution of the African Union, was established in 2016 and launched in 2017 with the aim of supporting Member States and their Public Health Institutes in detecting and responding to public health threats.