Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has raised the alarm over shortages of essential medical supplies.

This is due to rising input and transport costs linked to the ongoing Middle East crisis.

Director General, Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, raised the alarm yesterday during the weekly regional press briefing.

Kaseya said the cost of key materials, such as polyester used in mosquito nets, had surged by up to 40 per cent.

He said that shipping expenses had spiked due to new war taxes and fuel surcharges, reaching $4,000 per container.

According to him, delays in freight and disruptions in supply chains could threaten the timely delivery of medicines, vaccines, and other health products.

Kaseya said Africa’s heavy reliance on imports from China and India increased the continent’s vulnerability.

He also emphasised Africa CDC’s Africa Health Security and Sovereignty (AHSS) Agenda.

The AHSS agenda promotes stronger leadership, coordinated pandemic preparedness, sustainable domestic health financing, digital transformation of health systems, and local manufacturing of health products.

Kaseya pointed to the Democratic Republic of Congo as a model, showing how political commitment and innovative financing, such as import levies and mandatory insurance, could reduce donor dependence and expand domestic health coverage.

The Africa CDC DG said that achieving health sovereignty would require a combination of political will, innovative financing, and structural reforms to make Africa’s health systems resilient in the face of global crises.