Politics of disease control in Africa and the critical role of global health diplomacy: A systematic review

Africa faces a triple burden of communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and nutritional disorders, hampered by historically weak health systems and inadequate outbreak preparedness. This review examines the politics of disease control in Africa and the critical role of global health diplomacy (GHD). African countries struggle to build robust health systems for disease control. The politics necessitate cooperative partnerships among diverse actors. Recent outbreaks like COVID-19 and Ebola significantly impacted African economies. Prioritizing health in African development agendas is crucial. The African Union (AU) should leverage GHD to navigate global health governance, develop robust preparedness strategies, address health-security linkages, and train health officials in diplomacy. The AU, RECs, and African CDCs should harmonize plans and strategies to integrate health into African development agendas, harnessing GHD to achieve SDG health targets.

Vijay Kumar Chattu, W. Andy Knight, Anil Adisesh, Sanni Yaya, K. Srikanth Reddy, Erica Di Ruggiero, Obijiofor Aginam, Garry Aslanyan, Michael Clarke, M. Rashad Massoud, Ashish Jha