The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a major continental initiative to strengthen surveillance, improve integrated care, and transform Africa’s response to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

About two million Africans die prematurely each year from complications related to hypertension and diabetes alone, while only about 10–20 per cent of those living with these conditions receive regular care.

The Strengthening Public Health Surveillance and Resilient Knowledge for Non-Communicable Diseases in Africa (SPARK–NCD) Programme, launched in collaboration with African Union member states and partners, aims to strengthen surveillance systems, enhance NCD data generation, build workforce capacity, and advance integrated, people-centred care across the continent.

Delivered through existing national platforms, including the Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) Frontline platform, the initiative is designed to embed NCD intelligence within health systems that countries already own and operate, building capacity from within rather than creating parallel structures.

At the launch, Zanzibar’s Second Vice President, Hemed Abdulla, who spoke on behalf of the President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, Hussein Mwinyi, described the initiative as a major turning point for Africa’s health systems.

He stressed the urgency of implementation, noting that the question before Africa is no longer whether integration should happen, but how effectively and quickly it can be achieved. “This is not just another programme. It is potentially the most significant transformation in health systems since the establishment of vertical HIV programmes over three decades ago,” he said.

According to the Africa CDC, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health conditions are rising rapidly across every region of the continent, increasingly affecting people in their most productive years and driving premature mortality, disability, household impoverishment, and sustained pressure on health systems and economies.

Despite this growing burden, the agency noted that surveillance systems for NCDs remain fragmented and under-resourced in many countries, limiting governments’ ability to detect, monitor, and respond effectively. In many cases, people live for years with undiagnosed hypertension or diabetes, while others who are diagnosed are not retained in care.

The centre explained that the SPARK–NCD initiative seeks to close this gap by strengthening surveillance systems for NCDs, injuries, and mental health; building a skilled public health workforce; embedding NCD intelligence within national systems to inform decision-making and improve outcomes; and supporting countries to institutionalise integrated care at scale.

Also speaking, Acting Deputy Director-General of Africa CDC, Raji Tajudeen, described SPARK–NCD as a strategic investment in Africa’s public health systems. He said it would enable countries to move from fragmented data to actionable intelligence, and from isolated programmes to integrated, people-centred care.

He added that the programme reflects a growing recognition that Africa can no longer afford to treat NCDs as a silent crisis at the margins of public health planning, stressing that surveillance, prevention, and integrated chronic disease care must become central pillars of the continent’s health security and sovereignty.

The launch followed a high-level policy dialogue drawing on more than a decade of research from Tanzania and Uganda, which demonstrated that integrating HIV and NCD services is safe, equitable, cost-effective, and improves access without compromising HIV outcomes. The evidence also showed that community-based models can achieve comparable clinical outcomes while reducing costs and easing pressure on health facilities.

The findings highlight a major opportunity for Africa to build on the success of its HIV response. For years, HIV and NCD programmes have operated in silos, with limited sharing of resources, workforce models, and implementation lessons. However, emerging evidence shows that integrating care and bringing services closer to communities is both feasible and effective.

The SPARK–NCD initiative aligns with the African Union’s Common Position on Multisectoral Engagement, Coordination and Action for NCDs, injuries, and mental health, reinforcing a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to prevention, surveillance, and care.