MONTROVIA – A senior official from the African Centers for Disease Control is holding a meeting in the US capital of Washington, D.C., to discuss future cooperation between the US government and the Continental Health Agency in light of funding cuts managed by President Donald Trump.
“We see this change as an opportunity,” said Dr. Congo Ngangonggo, director of CDC Incident Management in Africa. Ngongo spoke at an online briefing on Thursday, March 27th to provide an update on the MPOX virus status in the region.
Ngongo said consultations following similar debates with European countries are necessary to keep up with the “fast-changing global environment.” He mentioned the freeze and subsequent cancellation of more than 80% of the US foreign aid programs under USAID, the main aid agency of the US government, which the new administration is set to “restructure.”
“The 5,200 currently cancelled contracts spent tens of thousands of dollars in ways that did not serve the core US national interests,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March, saying the remaining 1,000 programs would be managed “more effectively” under the State Department.
Disposal of the program affects life-saving aid for disease prevention and mitigating extreme hunger. According to the Centre for Global Development (CGD), several African countries with a fifth of support from USAID, including South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia will be particularly “exposed.” “In Liberia, basic health is a key area, and in Uganda it is population and reproductive health,” the CGD report states.
Ngongo said the funding movement was preceded by a decline in official development assistance. “There is 30% of the overall health spending in the region that comes from foreign aid,” he said. The increased need to serve debt has also affected investments in the health sector, he said.
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Officials of the CDC in Africa said that only two African countries that meet their obligations under the Abuja Declaration are meeting their obligations under the Abuja Declaration, which requires that in 2001 allocate 15% of the national budget to tackle the rise in the country’s health agenda. He said local health groups are urging the government to pursue new strategies to address health needs, such as aggressively mobilizing domestic resources and introducing health insurance, while urging the government to “optimal use” of limited resources and curbing corruption.
Continental Health Watchdog said it hopes to move into the “enhanced phase” of its fight against the virus and get control over it in the coming months.
Over 3,000 cases were “notified” in the 11 weeks of reporting, and over 900 confirmed cases. The numbers represent an increase from the previous week.
Uganda, Burundi and the Congo account for more than 90% of cases. This states that Ngongo is demonstrating “sustainable community communication.”
