By Agency Report
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that rising costs and supply chain disruptions could trigger dangerous shortages of essential medical supplies across the continent.
Director-General of Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, raised the alarm on Thursday during the agency’s weekly high-level regional press briefing.
He said the cost of key materials, including polyester used in mosquito nets, has surged by up to 40 per cent. Shipping expenses have also spiked, with new war taxes and fuel surcharges pushing container costs to as high as $4,000.
“These delays and disruptions could threaten the timely delivery of medicines, vaccines, and other critical health products,” Kaseya said. He noted that Africa’s heavy reliance on imports from China and India makes the continent particularly vulnerable.
“Vulnerability ranges from rising costs to lives at stake. Price hikes and shortages risk evolving into a public health crisis,” he added.
Kaseya also highlighted Africa CDC’s Africa Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda, which focuses on stronger leadership, coordinated pandemic preparedness, sustainable domestic health financing, digital transformation of health systems, and local manufacturing of health products.
He pointed to the Democratic Republic of Congo as a model, noting how political commitment and innovative financing, including import levies and mandatory insurance, can reduce donor dependence and expand domestic health coverage.
“Health financing alone is only half the battle; stewardship, efficiency, and integrated systems are equally critical,” Kaseya said.
He urged African countries to sustain reforms that strengthen domestic ownership of health priorities, improve efficiency, and reduce fragmentation, ensuring the continent can protect its health security despite global supply shocks.
Kaseya concluded that achieving health sovereignty will require political will, innovative financing, and structural reforms to make Africa’s health systems resilient in the face of global crises.
NAN
