U.S. To Partner With Africa On New African CDC

09:50

April 21, 2015

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (right) and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma shake hands during a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Cooperation to Support the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention during the opening of the African Union Commission High Level Dialogue April 13, 2015 at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Through the signing of the memorandum, the U.S. CDC will provide technical expertise to the African Union to support establishing an African Surveillance and Response Unit and an Emergency Operations Center within the African CDC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The African Union and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are collaborating to create the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The African CDC will serve the whole continent of Africa.

The idea for the African CDC came about before last year's Ebola outbreak, but has been fast-tracked to serve future health emergencies. The public health institute will launch later this year with an African Surveillance and Response Unit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Dr. Tom Kenyon, director of the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells Here & Now's Robin Young about this initiative and what the U.S. role will be in the collaboration.

Guest

Tom Kenyon, M.D., director of the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This segment aired on April 21, 2015.

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