Addis Ababa — African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has remained vigilant throughout the year, despite an ongoing mpox epidemic across the continent. In early August, the WHO and Africa CDC declared an international health emergency after the surge in cases associated with a new strain of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo . For Africa CDC, this declaration marks a significant milestone, as it aims to address the escalating crisis through a new public health order .
The Africa CDC organization hosted an editors' roundtable under the theme "Building a Strong and Effective Media Engagement Partnership for Africa CDC" aimed at fostering a stronger media engagement partnership to effectively communicate its mandate, strategic vision for 2023-2027, and the New Public Health Order. The roundtable gathered media stakeholders to discuss strategies for improving public awareness of the Africa CDC's role in protecting the health of the continent. "Media play a fundamental role in managing health crises," according to Dr.
Raji Tajudeen, Head of Public Health Institutes and Research. "The COVID-19 pandemic and the mpox outbreak have shown us the significant impact of misinformation and disinformation. Media is now a critical pillar in emergency preparedness and response.
Engaging the media effectively is essential for community involvement and outbreak control, as every disease outbreak starts and ends in the community. The diversity present here today, .
