South Africa has pledged 5 million US dollars to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to support efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
Announcing the contribution on Monday during a high-level meeting of African Health ministers, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the outbreak had already claimed more than 200 lives. Mr Ramaphosa noted that the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had described the current outbreak as the second-largest Ebola epidemic since the 2014 West Africa outbreak.
The South African leader, who serves as the African Union Champion on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, highlighted ongoing collaboration with partners, including the World Health Organization, Vaccine Alliance working groups and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, to advance vaccine and therapeutic candidates towards clinical trials.
“We strongly support these efforts, as Africa cannot continue to face deadly epidemics without equitable access to diagnostics, vaccines and treatments,” he said. Mr Ramaphosa also called on development partners and pharmaceutical manufacturers to accelerate research and development, strengthen genomic surveillance, expand laboratory capacity and ensure the equitable distribution of safe and effective vaccines and treatments across the continent.