Africa: Africa CDC Introduces New Public Health Training Accreditation Framework

What the report says

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has introduced a new public health training accreditation framework intended to raise the quality, credibility and professional recognition of its training offerings and those of its partners. The announcement, reported by AllAfrica from Addis Ababa, comes as the continental health body says about 30% of its budget is devoted to training.

The framework was developed with the Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa (ASPHA), a regional network of public health academic institutions in 35 African countries. It sets common standards for evaluating and accrediting public health programmes and is meant to provide a more transparent quality-assurance process for continuing education and professional development.

According to the report, Africa CDC has long supported workforce development through training in areas such as public health leadership, emergency management, field epidemiology, health diplomacy, community health, health systems strengthening and digital health. The agency says the new system is designed to help ensure those learning activities are formally recognized and tied to measurable competencies, rather than remaining informally documented.

The initiative also reflects broader workforce challenges in Africa, where health worker shortages and uneven continuing professional development systems have been cited as ongoing concerns. Africa CDC said the framework will begin with its own programmes but is intended for wider use across African Union member states, with implementation coordinated by its Health Workforce Development Division and supported by independent review.