The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, has called on African countries and institutions to double their effort in mobilising funds to fight the deadly Ebola currently claiming several lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

According to him, African countries have so far mobilised approximately US$110 million to support responses to Ebola and other disease outbreaks.

This is a significant step towards strengthening the continent’s health security and reducing dependence on external funding, Dr Kaseya told journalists at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday at the sidelines of the just-ended African Union (AU) Extraordinary Summit on Health 2026.

The Summit, convened by Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, gathered heads of state and health ministers to secure Africa’s “health sovereignty” amid declining international donor funding.

“We need more resources domestically so that we won’t go cup in hand begging from external sources”, he stated.

Dr Kaseya also used the press conference to update the journalists on the continent’s response to the Ebola outbreaks as well as broader initiatives aimed at achieving health sovereignty on the continent.

He added that his outfit had written to the United States Secretary of State requesting the lifting of travel restrictions imposed on Uganda, emphasising that the appeal was based on scientific evidence.

“This is not an emotional decision; it is based on evidence,” the Africa CDC boss explained clearly that Uganda had demonstrated strong political commitment and made significant progress in managing Ebola and other outbreaks, including Marburg virus disease.

Dr Kaseya lauded African countries for increasingly financing their own emergency health responses and was confident that more resources would be mobilised to support ongoing interventions across the continent.

He disclosed that Africa CDC is leading clinical trials for therapeutics and preventive measures, with a vaccine clinical trial expected to begin next month.

Dr Kaseya was optimistic that by December 2026, Africa would have significantly strengthened its preparedness against Ebola through improved access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic tools to save lives.

He said: “We are doing our best to ensure that African countries can say by December 2026 that, thanks to a strong continental organisation, we will not be afraid of an Ebola outbreak because we have all the medical countermeasures”.

The Africa CDC Director-General stated that the continent’s push for health sovereignty was gaining momentum and aligned with the African Union’s broader vision of self-reliance.

Discussions among African leaders and partners are focused on accelerating implementation of the sovereignty agenda from 2027, including in the health sector, Dr Kaseya said.