Health

• 
• Ayan Ahmed
• 2 weeks ago

Africa CDC Unveils New Accreditation System for Public Health Training

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which allocates approximately 30% of its budget to training, has introduced a new accreditation framework aimed at improving the quality, credibility and professional recognition of public health training offered by the organisation and its partners.

The framework was developed in partnership with the Association of Schools of Public Health in Africa (ASPHA), a regional network of public health academic institutions operating across 35 African countries. Known as the Continuing Education Unit (CEU) Accreditation Framework, the initiative establishes shared standards for assessing and accrediting public health training programmes.

Over the years, Africa CDC and its partners have made substantial investments in strengthening the skills and expertise of Africa’s public health workforce through various training initiatives. However, the absence of a standardised, transparent and verifiable accreditation system has meant that some of these programmes have not received formal recognition as continuing professional development within member states. The new framework seeks to resolve this challenge by creating a reliable mechanism for quality assurance and the recognition of learning achievements.

The initiative comes amid significant workforce shortages across Africa. The continent is projected to face a deficit of 5.85 million health workers, while a regional assessment found that only 39% of countries have established continuing professional development frameworks, with just 26% actively implementing such systems. These findings highlight the need to ensure that investments in workforce training result in recognised qualifications and demonstrable professional skills.

Africa CDC provides training in several areas, including public health leadership, emergency response management, field epidemiology, health diplomacy, community health, health systems development and digital health.

Dr Raji Tajudeen, Deputy Director General of Africa CDC, said workforce training remains one of the organisation’s major investments because Africa’s health security depends on having qualified professionals. He emphasised that the success of these initiatives should be measured not simply by the number of people trained, but by whether programmes meet established standards, develop relevant skills and produce measurable outcomes.

The new framework establishes a consistent approach to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), encompassing in-person and online courses, fellowships, mentorship programmes, conferences and other educational activities. Through a formal accreditation process, training programmes will be evaluated against common quality requirements to ensure scientific credibility, relevance to workforce needs and clear learning outcomes. The system will also enable participants to receive formal recognition for the competencies they acquire.

To strengthen the credibility and consistency of the process, accreditation assessments will involve independent technical reviews conducted in collaboration with ASPHA. This approach is intended to ensure that training programmes are evaluated transparently and according to recognised standards.

Professionals who complete accredited learning activities will receive verifiable evidence of their professional development through digital certificates and a system that records their learning achievements. Although the framework will initially apply to Africa CDC training programmes, it has been designed to allow broader adoption by African Union member states.

Dr Margaret Kaseje, President of ASPHA, said public health professionals should be able to demonstrate the value of their training regardless of where they work. She explained that the framework provides a shared foundation for recognising professional development while remaining compatible with individual countries’ regulatory systems.

Implementation will be coordinated by Africa CDC’s Health Workforce Development Division, with oversight from a joint steering committee and independent reviewers. The initiative will also help improve the organisation’s training programmes through stronger monitoring of training quality, learning outcomes and the impact of professional development on workforce capabilities.