Realizing Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa will be Legacy for Africans: Project Coordinators

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Addis Ababa (ENA) January 10/2023 Realizing the building of Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Headquarters in Addis Ababa will be a legacy for Africans, Project assistant Coordinators underlined.

The construction work of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Headquarters project, which has been supported by China, started in December 2020.

While the project covers a total construction area of nearly 40,000 square meters, the phase one  of the construction covers 23,570 square meters. 

Africa CDC is a specialized technical institution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, assistant project Coordinator, Abel Shimelis said the successful completion of this state of the art continental health facility could be considered as a legacy for all Africans that transcend time. 

The construction of the continental medical facility is being undertaken day and night to successfully complete the project as scheduled, he added.

It is believed that the center is immensely crucial to strengthening the prevention and control of diseases in Africa.

The laboratory is best-equipped with up-to-date technologies and can be competent at the international level, he said.

"The CDC Africa headquarters building project is a huge project which will have great contributions for Ethiopia and for the continent as whole."

For the Assistant coordinator, the project has provided crucial knowledge transfer to Ethiopian experts who have been teamed up with Chinese experts during the construction process.

Stating that realizing the project in Addis Ababa will be vital to carry out various health-related researches, he said that it will be one of the manifestations that Africans can solve their health challenges and will contribute to the rest of the world as well in the sector.

Citing that the project consists of high-level laboratory scale technologies, he said "the laboratory is best equipped with high scale technologies which can be competent at the global level."

Biological Laboratory team leader of the project, Engineer Tewodros Birhanu said for his part that the construction of the center is undertaken as per the international quality standards. 

Recall that as the COVID-19 pandemic showcased Africa CDC's indisputable role in leading continental anti-pandemic efforts, experts believe that the future headquarters will further augment the AU health care agency's institutional capabilities.

When completed the building will include an emergency operation center, a data center, a laboratory, a resource center, briefing rooms, a training center, a conference center, offices, and apartments, it was learned.

It is expected that China's Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, along with African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat and other dignitaries  will  visit the Africa (CDC) Headquarters project site by tomorrow, 11 January, 2023.

Ethiopian News Agency
2023