AFRICA has made significant progress in strengthening its ability to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks since the COVID-19 pandemic, but glaring gaps in health security infrastructure continue to expose the continent to future epidemics, a new report has revealed.
The inaugural Africa Health Security (AHS) Index, released on Tuesday amid a devastating Ebola outbreak, showed that the continent is nearly 30 per cent more prepared than it was five years ago. However, Africa recorded an average score of 41.5 out of 100, highlighting persistent weaknesses in health systems, biosecurity, emergency preparedness and financing.
The report, developed by a coalition of African and international public health experts and research organisations, assessed all 54 African countries using 190 indicators covering health security, disease surveillance, health systems, governance and political risk.
According to the findings, 52 of the 54 countries improved their overall scores, reflecting increased investments in health security following lessons
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