Infectious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV remain major causes of death and disability in Africa accounting for about 1.2 million deaths every year in Africa. By 2050, it is estimated that up to 4 million deaths could occur on the continent due to emergent infectious pathogens and increasing antimicrobial resistance. The covid-19 pandemic has revealed uncomfortable realities about the state of public health institutions in Africa. This reality led Dr. John Nkengasong, the then Director of the Africa CDC to declare that “in order to secure its future and guarantee its development, Africa will need a new public health order to address infectious disease threats and the overall syndemic in the 21st century”. In this episode, we talk about this New Public Health Order for Africa with two global health experts who have written extensively on this topic, Dr. Ebere Okereke and Sheila Mburu from the Tony Blair Institute.

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Readings:
Read Ebere and Sheila's articles
A New Public-Health Order for Africa: What and why?
A New Public-Health Order for Africa: Why Public-Health Institutions Are the Foundations of Strong Health Systems


Follow Ebere Okereke on Twitter: @DrEmereumJnr
Follow Sheila Mburu on Twitter: @Mburu_Health

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Artwork: Chidiebere Ibe
Theme music: Antidote by Ketsa