Africa is stepping into a new era of health independence. On 21 November 2025, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced a renewed vision for Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty (AHSS) Agenda a roadmap designed to protect the continent from rising health threats while reducing heavy dependence on external donors and global supply systems.
This updated agenda builds on the momentum of the New Public Health Order (NPHO), which African Heads of State endorsed in 2022. The NPHO helped strengthen public health institutions, expand the health workforce, and boost collaboration across regions progress that proved vital during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the health landscape in Africa has changed dramatically.
Why This New Agenda Matters Now
External health aid to Africa has dropped by almost 70% since 2021, even as outbreaks across the continent rose by more than 40% between 2022 and 2024. Climate-related emergencies, shifting global politics, fragile supply chains, and widening inequalities continue to stretch health systems thin.
Recognizing these realities, African leaders have held several high-level dialogues throughout 2025 from Addis Ababa to Accra to New York all calling for a stronger, more unified African health security vision. Africa CDC was tasked with shaping that vision and turning it into practical, actionable strategies.
At the core of the AHSS Agenda is a simple but powerful idea: Africa should have a bigger say in global health decisions, especially those that directly affect its people.
The Five Pillars of Africa’s New Health Security Agenda
Africa CDC’s renewed vision is anchored in five interconnected pillars, each focused on strengthening a different part of the continent’s health system.
1. Reforming Global Health Governance
Africa wants a more equitable global health system, one where countries lead, regions coordinate, and global bodies support. With a stronger, more empowered Africa CDC, the continent aims to help shape global health policies instead of merely responding to them.
2. Stronger Pandemic Prevention and Response
After witnessing how quickly diseases spread, Africa is integrating its surveillance systems, laboratories, National Public Health Institutes, Emergency Operations Centres, and emergency response teams like AVoHC and the Kofi Annan Health Leadership Programme.
This unified system is designed to detect outbreaks early and respond fast.
The African Epidemic Fund (AfEF) will serve as the financial backbone for rapid action during emergencies.
3. Sustainable Health Financing
Africa CDC is calling on countries to significantly increase domestic health investment. This includes leveraging innovative financing tools like health levies, “sin taxes,” and blended public–private investments.
Another major priority is making sure external funds genuinely align with Africa’s long-term health vision a key commitment under the Lusaka Agenda.
4. Accelerating Digital Transformation
Digital health is no longer optional. Africa is building a continent-wide Digital Intelligence Ecosystem that allows real-time data to flow from communities all the way up to national and regional platforms.
Reliable internet even in rural and primary health facilities is central to this plan, ensuring healthcare workers can report cases, access information, and coordinate responses without delays.
5. Boosting Local Manufacturing of Medical Supplies
Africa wants to manufacture at least 60% of its essential medical products including vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments by 2040.
The African Pooled Procurement Mechanism and strong regulatory leadership from the African Medicines Agency (AMA) will support this effort, helping countries buy African-made products and build resilient supply chains.
A Strong Message of Ownership and Leadership
Unveiling the agenda, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya emphasized that Africa’s health sovereignty is “non-negotiable.”
He highlighted that the goal isn’t to isolate Africa from the world, but to build partnerships where African nations define their priorities and global partners align with them not the other way around.
What Comes Next
Africa CDC acknowledges that challenges remain from funding gaps to workforce shortages to limited manufacturing capacity. But the AHSS Agenda aims to tackle these issues through a unified, continent-wide strategy.
To track progress, Africa CDC will introduce a continental scorecard, ensuring accountability and helping political leaders push the agenda forward in their own countries.
This renewed vision marks a powerful shift: Africa is not just responding to health crises it is preparing, leading, and defining the systems that will protect the continent for decades to come.