The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has joined forces with the Novo Nordisk Foundation to build stronger public health workforce capacity for Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) surveillance across ten African Union (AU) Member States.
The partnership was formally introduced during a virtual launch held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday.
As part of the two-year initiative, running from June 2025 to May 2027, a grant of $2.65 million has been committed, with the Africa Public Health Foundation (APHF) overseeing the funds.
The programme is designed to establish a scalable training framework for health professionals that can later be expanded to other countries across the continent.
It will empower health workers with skills to collect, interpret, and apply NCD-related data to guide policies and interventions.
Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and mental health disorders are on the rise in Africa, but most countries still lack robust surveillance systems.
According to Africa CDC, the burden of NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa rose by 67 percent between 1990 and 2017.
By 2030, projections indicate that NCDs, mental health conditions, and injuries could surpass all other causes of premature deaths in the region.
Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC, said the partnership is timely, as it provides African health systems with tools and expertise to generate reliable data.
He stressed that strengthening surveillance is central to smarter investments, evidence-based policies, and the resilience of health systems.
Prof. Flemming Konradsen, Chief Scientific Officer for Health at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, explained that better NCD data would allow governments to design more effective prevention and care strategies.
Dr Francisco Songane, Interim CEO of APHF, described the grant as a much-needed boost, adding that NCDs represent “a defining challenge of our generation, silently devastating families and straining economies.”
With communicable diseases still dominating Africa’s health agenda, experts say the new project offers a chance to reposition focus on non-communicable conditions through reliable, data-driven solutions.
The initiative also aligns with Africa CDC’s existing strategy on NCDs, Injuries Prevention and Control, and Mental Health Promotion (2022–2026).
A major highlight will be the integration of an NCDs surveillance component into the Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), ensuring frontline health workers embed NCD indicators into national health information systems for long-term impact