Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) launches a Central Data Repository to improve disease surveillance and public health decision-making across the continent.
Africa CDC announces that the platform officially launches on 27 January 2026 in Addis Ababa, creating a unified system to integrate surveillance, laboratory and programme data from across Africa.
Public health data on the continent has long remained fragmented, slowing the detection of cross-border outbreaks and weakening emergency responses. The new repository addresses these gaps through a secure, interoperable platform that supports real-time analysis and forecasting.
“The repository gives us a single, trusted foundation for public health intelligence,” says Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya. “It allows us to see risks earlier, act faster and coordinate responses across borders.”
Africa bears the world’s heaviest burden of public health emergencies. Between 2022 and 2024, reported incidents rose by 40 percent to 213 events, driven by infectious diseases, climate shocks and humanitarian crises.
The platform supports the One Health approach, linking human, animal and environmental data to improve preparedness and response.
Development began over a year ago, backed by the Global Fund with technical support from the Public Health Informatics Institute. Stakeholders validate the system during a November 2025 workshop.
Africa CDC says the repository marks a major step toward data-driven health security on the continent.
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