Interview: AU top official hails China's support for building pan-African health agency

A top African Union (AU) official on Tuesday lauded China's support for the formation of African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (African CDC), saying Africa expects more China's engagement in restructuring heath system.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the AU-hosted conference on Ebola here in Malabo, Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission, said China has been supportive in providing both technical expertise and financial assistance to the setting up of African CDC.

"China has offered to train medical staff for the center; China will also make cash contribution towards the center," he said.

Mwencha, who visited China recently, said a center for disease control is a highly complex instrument, and China has "both the willingness and capacity" to help build the center.

"I went to see the China CDC. It starts from the village to collect information that goes to the nearest medical center, then it goes all the way to Beijing," he said, adding that the two sides will soon sign a memorandum of cooperation concerning the African CDC.

A pan-African institution, African CDC was first proposed in July 2013 in Abuja, Nigeria. Its planned headquarter will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is then supported by five regional centers across the continent.

The AU official said the creation of the center, which is to coordinate research and response throughout Africa on big public health threats, is on course.

A number of countries and partners, including China, have offered personnel to come and assist in the setting up the center, train medical staff, and give advice on how to manage the center, he said.

The ministerial meeting of the two-day AU Ebola conference also adopted the Statute of the Africa CDC, and urged the fast-tracking of the establishment of the institution.

For future Africa-China health cooperation, Mwencha is looking forward to the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation later this year in South Africa, and hopes the two sides can join hands in the area of pharmaceutical manufacture.

"Africa is now ready to go to the next level of producing drugs. And we are looking for cooperation. China now, for instance, is able to produce drugs for AIDS and for a number of other diseases like malaria," he said.

The AU official also hailed China's role in helping Africa countries combat Ebola as well as its contribution to the post-epidemic recovery.

"It is extremely supportive. China was the first country to send health workers to the Ebola affected countries in West Africa," he said.

"It has contributed over 100 million U.S. dollars to the Ebola-affected countries as a whole; it also pledged financial assistance through the UN Trust Fund for the recovery. China has done significant contribution," he added. Endit