Health
Half of approved diagnostics for Africa’s priority epidemic diseases unavailable at primary healthcare level – Report
A new report has revealed that about half of the approved diagnostic tests for six epidemic-prone diseases prioritised by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) cannot be used in most primary healthcare facilities across Africa because they require laboratory infrastructure that is often unavailable.
The report found that 50 per cent of approved diagnostics for Mpox, dengue, cholera, bacterial meningitis, malaria and Ebola depend on laboratory facilities beyond the reach of many frontline health centres.
For Ebola alone, 88 per cent of approved diagnostic tests require laboratory infrastructure.
It also found that funding for diagnostic research and development has steadily declined since 2015, despite Africa’s continued vulnerability to infectious disease outbreaks.
Findings come months after the 2026 Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak, during which health authorities initially failed to detect the virus because available diagnostic tests were designed to identify the Zaire strain of Ebola.
The mismatch delayed confirmation of the outbreak by 10 days, highlighting the consequences of gaps in Africa’s diagnostic preparedness.
The report, titled Diagnostics Deficit: Funding, Access, and Preparedness Gaps in African Health Systems, was launched by global health organisations PATH and Impact Global Health ahead of the African Union Extraordinary Health Summit in Accra, Ghana.
Rapid diagnostic tests play a critical role in identifying outbreaks early, guiding treatment and helping health authorities contain the spread of infectious diseases. However, limited access to these tools, particularly in primary healthcare centres where many patients first seek treatment, continues to weaken disease surveillance and emergency response across the continent.
Uneven progress
The report examined six diseases selected from Africa CDC’s priority list for their epidemic and outbreak potential: mpox, dengue, cholera, bacterial meningitis, malaria, and Ebola. Measles, although also on the priority list, was excluded because comparable G-FINDER funding data were unavailable.
Researchers identified 577 approved diagnostic products across six diseases, with another 59 still under development.
However, innovation remains heavily concentrated in just two diseases. Dengue and mpox account for 84 per cent of all approved and pipeline diagnostic products, while cholera and bacterial meningitis, both identified by Africa CDC as major outbreak and antimicrobial resistance threats, have only seven approved or pipeline products each.
Despite a growing number of diagnostic products, access remains a major challenge. Of the 577 approved diagnostics, 288 require clinical laboratory infrastructure, limiting their use in PHC facilities.
While 83 per cent of malaria diagnostics can be deployed at the PHC level, most approved diagnostics for Ebola and mpox remain laboratory dependent, restricting their use in frontline health facilities.
Further review showed that investment in diagnostic research and development has continued to decline. Using G-FINDER data, the analysis found that annual funding for six diseases has fallen by nearly $4 million (approx. ₦6 billion depending on exchange rates) since 2015, dropping from almost $55 million to less than $26 million in 2024.
It warned that funding typically rises during major outbreaks before falling sharply once emergencies subside, a cycle that leaves African countries inadequately prepared for future epidemics.
Experts’ concerns
Commenting on the findings, Sabastine Wakdok, Director of Research at Impact Global Health, said a steady decline in funding reflects a diagnostic research system struggling to keep pace with Africa’s growing outbreak risks.
Mr Wakdok said investment in research and development for diagnostics targeting six priority diseases has continued to fall despite rising disease incidence across the continent.
He noted that funding often increases during outbreaks but drops sharply once the immediate crisis passes, leaving African countries inadequately prepared for future epidemics.
“Diagnostic R&D investment for six Africa CDC priority diseases has fallen nearly $4 million annually since 2015. More troubling, this decline persists despite rising disease incidence and outbreak risk,” he said.
He added that the continent was not receiving the sustained investment needed for epidemic-prone diseases, warning that outbreak-driven funding cycles leave Africa “perpetually underprepared.”
Also commenting, PATH’s Senior Director for the Centre for Advocacy and Policy, Bernard Aryeetey, said the challenge goes beyond developing new diagnostic technologies to ensuring they reach the people and health facilities that need them most.
Mr Aryeetey stressed that the availability of diagnostic tools alone is not enough if they cannot be accessed during outbreaks or integrated into frontline health systems.
“It is not solely whether diagnostics exist, but also whether they can reach clinics and surveillance systems when they are most needed, especially during outbreaks,” he said.
He warned that unless barriers relating to access, affordability, deployment and manufacturing readiness are addressed, people will continue to die needlessly even when effective diagnostic tools are available.
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Recommendations
To address identified gaps, the report called for sustained domestic and international investment in diagnostic research, arguing that emergency-driven funding alone cannot build resilient health systems.
It urged African governments to increase national financing for diagnostics while encouraging global health donors to provide predictable, long-term support.
Authors also recommended that Africa CDC make diagnostics a central pillar of the continent’s health security strategy and called on researchers and manufacturers to prioritise developing diagnostic tools for use in PHC facilities, rather than relying mainly on technologies that require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure.
To improve access across the continent, the report urged the African Medicines Agency to harmonise regulatory approval processes so that diagnostic tests approved in one African country can be recognised more easily in others.
It also highlighted Africa’s growing manufacturing capacity, noting that facilities across the continent can collectively produce more than 500 million diagnostic units annually.
However, weak demand, fragmented regulation, financing constraints and limited ecosystem support continue to prevent manufacturers from operating at scale.
The report concluded that although Africa has expanded its diagnostic pipeline in recent years, improving access, affordability, manufacturing capacity, and deployment will be critical to strengthening the continent’s preparedness for future disease outbreaks.
Nigeria has pledged to provide five million pairs of reading spectacles and 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027 as part of efforts to expand access to eye care services nationwide.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, announced the commitments at the Global Summit for Eye Health held in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, on 2 November.
Mr Salako, who delivered the closing address at the summit, said the federal government would also train 15,000 primary healthcare workers and integrate primary eye care services into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
He said the commitments formed part of Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate avoidable vision loss and expand access to quality eye care, particularly among vulnerable populations.
According to him, the government is targeting more than 25 million vulnerable Nigerians, especially women, older people and residents of underserved rural communities.
Nigeria’s eye health targets
Mr Salako said Nigeria would also work to increase its active eye care workforce by 20 per cent and raise its national Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) by 30 percentage points by 2030.
He said the government would mobilise domestic public and private sector resources and collaborate with Commonwealth and international partners to ensure the commitments translate into measurable progress.
Mr Salako said Nigeria’s approach would build on the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria, also known as JigiBola 2.0, which draws inspiration from the JigiBola programme introduced in Lagos State about 25 years ago.
He recalled volunteering as a young medical officer during the original programme, which provided free eye screening, spectacles and cataract surgeries.
Mr Salako said the initiative was now being expanded through a national programme to improve access to eye care.
Elimination of cataract blindness
Mr Salako said one of the major outcomes of the summit was a commitment to eliminate cataract-related blindness through the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Cataract Surgery Initiative, known as SEE 2045.
He said Nigeria was among the beneficiary countries under the initiative, alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania and China.
According to him, the initiative makes cataract elimination the second global elimination target for a non-communicable disease in WHO history.
He urged participating countries to demonstrate that expanding access to quality cataract surgery, including in rural communities, was achievable.
Mr Salako also called for proper documentation of successes and outcomes to enable countries to share implementation strategies and address the backlog of cataract surgeries.
He said avoidable vision loss had consequences beyond individual health, affecting education, household income, road safety and national productivity.
“When a child cannot see the chalkboard, or an artisan or farmer is blinded by cataracts or uncorrected refractive errors, an entire community pays the price,” he said.
Global partnerships
Mr Salako said the summit secured $60 million in philanthropic commitments to support assistive technology, alongside 15 private-sector commitments valued at more than $468 million to accelerate eye care implementation.
READ ALSO: Nigeria needs N104bn yearly for health security plan – NCDC
He added that organisations had made about 143 other commitments beyond those made by governments.
Mr Salako said the commitments demonstrated the importance of partnerships between governments, the private sector, philanthropic organisations and international development partners in improving global eye health.
He called on participating countries to sustain the momentum generated at the summit and ensure that the commitments translated into tangible improvements for people living with avoidable vision loss.
“Let us return to our respective nations as champions of sight, holding ourselves accountable to the millions who are waiting not for miracles, but for a pair of glasses, a timely referral, or a fifteen-minute surgical intervention that can restore their world,” he said.
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Health
Health Review: Ebola case, child malnutrition, medicine security, other developments that shaped October
October brought major developments across Nigeria’s health sector, with the confirmation of an Ebola case in Abuja prompting renewed disease surveillance, contact tracing and emergency response measures.
The month also saw growing concerns over Nigeria’s dependence on imported pharmaceutical ingredients, child malnutrition and challenges affecting maternal and child healthcare.
Beyond Nigeria, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continued to raise concerns about regional health security.
PREMIUM TIMES reviews some of the major health developments that shaped October.
Nigeria confirms first Ebola case in over a decade
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case since 2014 on 20 October, involving a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman living in Abuja who recently returned from Uganda.
The confirmation prompted contact tracing, heightened surveillance and infection prevention measures across healthcare facilities.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) initially identified 44 close contacts, with the number increasing as investigations continued.
Ebola patient evacuated to Switzerland
Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient and her husband were medically evacuated to Switzerland on 26 October after the patient received treatment in isolation in Abuja.
The patient was transferred to Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband was placed in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.
Following the evacuation, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Nigeria had no active confirmed Ebola case, although surveillance and monitoring of exposed contacts continued.
NCDC expands health declarations for international travellers
The NCDC expanded the health declaration requirement to all international travellers after confirming Ebola in Abuja.
The agency said the measure was intended to strengthen screening at points of entry and support the early identification of potential infections.
It also urged healthcare facilities to isolate suspected cases promptly and strengthen infection prevention measures.
Suspected Ebola cases in Adamawa test negative
Two suspected Ebola cases identified in Adamawa State tested negative after two rounds of laboratory testing, the NCDC announced on 31 October.
The suspected cases involved a 34-year-old pilot and his wife, a medical doctor, who were admitted to an isolation facility at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital in Yola after developing symptoms suggestive of Ebola.
The agency said the Abuja case remained Nigeria’s only laboratory-confirmed Ebola infection during the outbreak.
FG clarifies N10 billion emergency disease response funding
The NCDC said the N10 billion emergency intervention fund approved by the federal government was intended to strengthen preparedness and response to Ebola, Lassa fever and other emerging infectious diseases.
The agency explained that the funding would support surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, protective equipment, emergency operations and rehabilitation of isolation facilities.
The clarification came amid questions over how the emergency allocation was being utilised following the confirmation of Ebola in Abuja.
Child malnutrition admissions rise in North-east
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported an 18 per cent increase in malnutrition admissions at 10 supported health facilities in North-east Nigeria.
The facilities recorded nearly 20,000 admissions between January and September 2026, compared with about 17,000 during the same period in 2025.
Children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers were among those most affected, highlighting the continuing impact of insecurity and food shortages on vulnerable communities.
FG partners US foundation to mobilise $1 billion against malnutrition
The federal government announced a partnership with the US-based Operation End Starvation initiative to mobilise more than $1 billion to address child malnutrition and starvation-related deaths across sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria was identified as a priority country under the initiative, which aims to mobilise funding over two years.
The government said the partnership would complement existing interventions addressing hunger and acute malnutrition among children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Imported drug ingredients raise medicine security concerns
Health and pharmaceutical stakeholders warned that Nigeria’s dependence on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) could undermine medicine security and expose the country to global supply disruptions.
At a meeting organised by Nigeria Health Watch in partnership with the World Bank Group, stakeholders called for increased domestic production of essential pharmaceutical ingredients.
They identified inadequate infrastructure, unreliable electricity, financing constraints and regulatory challenges as major barriers to local manufacturing.
WHO warns of widespread undiagnosed diabetes in Africa
The WHO raised concerns over the growing diabetes burden in Africa, warning that about 75 per cent of people living with the condition in the region remain undiagnosed.
The organisation said an estimated 24.6 million adults aged between 20 and 79 were living with diabetes in the African region.
The findings renewed concerns about limited screening, delayed diagnosis and access to treatment for non-communicable diseases.
Ebola outbreak worsens in DR Congo
The Ebola outbreak in the DRC continued to spread during October, with confirmed cases surpassing 10,000 and deaths approaching 5,000.
The WHO reported 10,274 confirmed cases and 4,992 deaths in the country as of 28 October.
The outbreak, which also affected other African countries, intensified concerns about cross-border transmission, surveillance capacity and regional preparedness.
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