We, the Heads of State and Government, and the Heads of Delegation from the 20 African Union (AU) Member States Affected by Cholera Epidemic in 2025.
RECALLING Assembly/AU/Decl.3(XXIX) of July 2017 on Accelerating the Implementation of the International Health Regulations in Africa, which seeks to address the increasing public health events and recurrent epidemics on the continent and to prevent, protect against, control and provide a timely response to public health events with the potential for international and cross-border spread.
RECALLING Assembly/AU/Dec.877(XXXVII) of February 2024, which took note of the appointment of H.E. Hakainde, President of Zambia, to serve as the African Union Champion for cholera outbreak response with the view to ensuring alignment of responses at continental, global and regional levels.
ALSO RECALLING Decision Assembly/AU/Decl.3(XXXII) of February 2019, which adopted the ‘Health in All Policies’ approach,’ recognizing that health challenges cannot be effectively addressed by Ministries of Health alone and emphasized the need to promote intersectoral collaboration by adopting and implementing a whole-of-government approach to ‘Health in All Policies’.
FURTHER RECALLING the commitments in the Africa Regional Framework for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for cholera prevention and control (2018–2030) that was endorsed by ministers of Health in 2018, and the limited progress made in achieving the set milestones and targets.
NOTING the February 2024 Communiqué by SADC Heads of State and Government calling for enhanced cholera prevention and control through community engagement, strengthened surveillance, vaccine availability through local production, and improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and targeted social behaviour change interventions.
FURTHER NOTING the SADC Ministers of Health Communiqué made in Lilongwe, Malawi in March 2023, that led to the establishment of the Africa Elimination of Cholera Epidemics Coordination Task Force (AECECT).
EXPRESSING CONCERN over the ongoing multi-country cholera outbreaks, currently affecting approximately 20 Member States, resulting in increased morbidity, mortality, and adverse socio-economic consequences; and FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING the additional burden imposed on national health systems by concurrent and protracted public health emergencies, including but not limited to mpox, measles, dengue fever, and Lassa fever, which collectively exacerbate existing systemic vulnerabilities and capacity constraints.
EXPRESSES CONCERN over the growing burden of disease outbreaks, epidemics, and public health emergencies, which pose serious threats to the continent’s social, economic, and security architecture, thereby undermining the realization of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want;
FURTHER NOTES the competing resource priorities and declining Official Development Assistance, which heighten the risk of socio-economic disruption and potential political instability; and the inadequate implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR), the Regional Framework for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Cholera Prevention and Control (2018–2030), which continues to impede timely and effective preparedness and response efforts.
EMPHASISING on the role of the AU to safeguard the health of all citizens on the continent, to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies, by putting in place strong resilient and adaptive health systems with effective coordination, collaboration and sharing of information and resources across borders.
MINDFUL of all the efforts that governments on the continent are putting in place to curb the widespread of the cholera outbreaks and the close collaborations and efforts underway by Africa CDC, the African Union Commission (AUC), WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) and all partners in reducing the burden of the Cholera epidemic in the continent.
