The President of Angola, which currently holds the presidency of the African Union (AU), has announced a voluntary contribution of €4.4 million to the AU’s public health agency, the organisation announced today.
According to a press release from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Angolan President João Lourenço, “in a strong act of continental solidarity”, announced “a historic voluntary contribution of five million dollars (approximately €4.4 million) to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), reaffirming Angola’s leadership and long-standing commitment to strengthening regional health security and sustainable health financing”.
The announcement was made after a meeting held on Monday in Luanda between the Angolan head of state and the director-general of the Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, in which they discussed regional health priorities and the “urgent need to mitigate the impact of declining aid”, explained the Africa CDC.
In the opinion of Kaseya, quoted in the statement, "President João Lourenço's leadership reflects Africa's collective determination to finance its health future".
In turn, according to the press release, the Angolan head of state also committed to convening a committee of African heads of state to defend the implementation of the Africa CDC's continental strategy "Rethinking African Health Financing in a New Era", a response to the sharp 70% decline in external development assistance for health across the continent.
According to a statement from the Angolan presidency, a mosquito net factory will be set up "that will be able to serve not only the country but also the continent".
The Africa CDC announced its support for this initiative, which promotes local production.
In Kaseya's opinion, Angola has played an essential role in promoting continental solidarity.
Also on Monday, in Luanda, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Angolan government announced that they would intensify the national response to the current cholera epidemic.
The parliamentary group of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party that supports the government, said today that the cholera epidemic in Angola is "a serious challenge", highlighting the efforts of the executive to contain and mitigate its effects.
Angola has been struggling with a cholera epidemic since the beginning of the year, which has already caused 519 deaths in 14,671 detected cases, affecting 17 of the 21 provinces.
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