Announcement of the Africa CDC Youth Advisory Team for Health (YAT4H)
February 2, 2023
Africa plans to drive health security with its youth population
February 10, 2023
UNDER THE THEME “MEANINGFUL YOUTH ENGAGEMENT FOR ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE HEALTH SECURITY IN AFRICA”
10-11 DECEMBER 2022 A side event at the margins of the 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA 2022)
BACKGROUND
Africa continues to experience the highest incidence of public health emergencies annually. Therefore, the African Union Heads of State, Governments, and participating Heads of Delegation called for the full implementation of the New Public Health Order for Africa during the sidelines of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. https://africacdc.org/news-item/africa-calls-for-new-public-health-order/
African youth constitute over 65% of the African population of more than 1.3 billion people. Behind this number are young health professionals and health advocates who hold great potential to innovate and advance Africa’s health. They play a critical role in African countries in promoting public health and reaching communities and thus, are partners, assets and a prerequisite for a sustainable health security in Africa.
It is against this backdrop that Africa CDC convened the inaugural Youth Pre-Conference on 10 – 11 December 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda, at the margins of CPHIA 2022. The theme of the pre-conference was “Meaningful youth engagement for advancing sustainable health security in Africa”. This ties in well with the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, Aspiration 1 on Health, getting young people involved in health issues.
