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.