Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and The Hague, The Netherlands, March 23, 2023
As the world commemorates World Tuberculosis Day tomorrow, with the theme “Yes! We Can End TB” concerted efforts are under way to eradicate the disease which affects one-quarter of the world’s population. The African Union (AU), through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and the KNCV TB Plus (KNCV) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at establishing a cooperation framework to support their shared goals to promote prevention and control of tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious diseases on the African continent.
Through the MoU, the Africa CDC and KNCV express their commitment towards ensuring closer collaboration between the two institutions to achieve their common objectives. The scope of the MoU is aligned with the Africa CDC’s New Public Health Order and proposes to support AU Member States in health systems strengthening, workforce development, sustainable and innovative prevention and control interventions and technologies for TB and other infectious diseases. Africa CDC and KNCV will cooperate in implementing a workplan of joint activities within these themes.
Commenting on the MoU, the Acting Director of Africa CDC noted, “We are looking forward as Africa CDC to strengthen our partnership with KNCV through this MoU. We have a lot to learn from each other and together we can synergistically increase the impact of our respective efforts to eliminate the TB pandemic from the African continent. Yes, Together We Can End TB!”.
KNCV brings over 120 years of experience and expertise in fighting TB in collaboration with Ministries of Health and partners. In its global work, KNCV implements sustainable and scalable people-centered strategies with a positive impact on persons, family and their communities. KNCV strives towards integrated healthcare, system readiness and scale-up of effective interventions for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of TB.
KNCV’s Executive Director, Mustapha Gidado, noted during the signing ceremony, “We are pleased with this partnership. Institutions such as Africa CDC leverage the African member states through the African Union to mobilize domestic resources and facilitate early uptake of new tools and approaches in the continent. They also support national institutes in different countries for quick responses to disease threats, outbreaks and epidemics. KNCV’s working principle is through government institutions in close collaboration with all stakeholders, especially persons affected with TB, which is the key to ensuring sustainability and ownership in the journey to ending TB and other related diseases.”
“To ensure African Union Member States are on track to achieving the 2025 milestones in TB elimination will require concerted and galvanized action from all stakeholders and all partners. This MoU intends to ensure further synergy and complementarity between Africa CDC and KNCV as part of the action-oriented partnerships of the New Public Health Order we envision for the continent.” commented Dr Abdulaziz Mohammed, Head of the Division of Disease Control and Prevention at Africa CDC.
