By Ayomide Otitoju
The World Health Organization (WHO), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) have announced the expansion of the Health Security Partnership to Strengthen Disease Surveillance in Africa (HSPA) to include Rwanda, bringing the total number of participating countries to seven.
Originally launched in 2023, the HSPA initiative was implemented in The Gambia, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, and Tunisia. The second phase of the program, running from 2025 to 2028, will see Rwanda join the partnership as part of ongoing efforts to enhance disease detection and response capabilities across the continent.
Africa continues to face the highest burden of disease outbreaks globally. While notable strides have been made in strengthening surveillance systems, WHO emphasizes that no country can address the complexity of today’s public health threats alone.
The HSPA aims to bolster epidemic intelligence by integrating health and security sectors, improving surveillance infrastructure, and fostering collaboration at the national and international levels. According to Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Acting WHO Regional Director for Africa, “HSPA represents an important step forward in building stronger partnerships for health security in Africa. WHO remains committed to ensuring these collective efforts are coordinated, responsive, and rooted in national priorities.”
The initiative supports partner countries in enhancing capabilities in biorisk management, genomic surveillance, event-based and indicator-based surveillance, and epidemic intelligence. This is achieved through targeted training, development of implementation roadmaps, and technical assistance tailored to national contexts.
Dr. Raji Tajudeen, Acting Deputy Director General of Africa CDC, highlighted the importance of regional cooperation: “Within the framework of this project, Africa CDC will work with Member States to mobilize political will for biosecurity, establish regional frameworks for biosurveillance of high-consequence agents, and coordinate event-based surveillance.”
Phase two of the HSPA is backed by continued support from the Government of Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program and new funding from the Government of the United Kingdom.
As the partnership expands, stakeholders are optimistic that it will accelerate progress in building a more resilient, health-secure Africa, capable of managing both current and emerging public health threats.
