Africa CDC and WHO Launch Unified Platform to Support Ebola Response in Africa

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Ugandan government have officially launched the Joint Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST) to support health emergency capabilities at the continental level amid the ongoing Ebola outbreak. In a statement released on Saturday evening local time, the Africa CDC said the newly launched IMST establishes a unified operational platform to strengthen Africa’s capacity to prepare for, coordinate, and respond to public health emergencies, while supporting the response to the ongoing Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak. Launched at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, on Saturday, the IMST will support Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and neighbouring at-risk countries through unified technical assistance, operational coordination, and multidisciplinary expertise, the statement detailed. “The launch marks a historic milestone in strengthening public health emergency systems in Africa and reflects a shared commitment by the Africa CDC, WHO, and African Union member states to build faster, more coordinated, and country-led responses to increasingly complex public health threats,” the Africa CDC stated. The new platform strengthens regional preparedness and cross-border collaboration as essential pillars for Africa’s health security, the AU’s specialised continental public health agency added. The agency emphasised that the IMST, guided by the principle of one team, one plan, and one budget, brings together specialists in surveillance, laboratory systems, case management, infection prevention and control, logistics and emergency operations, risk communication, information management, and partner coordination.