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| Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director John Nkengasaong will host an online press conference every month to share updates on COVID-19 with the public. / Captured from United Nations website |
By Yi Whan-woo
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) will hold an online press conference every month to share updates on COVID-19 with people across the continent, the African Union (AU) said last week.
The press meeting will come after the number of infected cases in Africa, although it still remains one of the least-affected regions, surpassed 1 million as of Aug. 6.
Under the auspices of the 55-member AU, the Africa CDC has been strengthening health systems and improving surveillance, emergency response, prevention and disease control.
The press conference will be organized in cooperation with the APO Group, a leading pan-African communications and business consultancy. The meeting will be open to journalists and the public.
Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong will host the meeting. The date and time of the first meeting has not been announced yet.
Among the issues to be shared are overviews of the epidemiologic situation across the continent, progress on the AU's Partnership for COVID-19 Testing (PACT), capacity building being undertaken with and for AU member states, updates on vaccinations and supplies of COVID-19 materials to member states and initiatives of African leaders.
"Africa has over 1.3 billion people, and reaching them all with COVID-19 information is a major priority of the African Union, as we work to prevent deaths, save lives and prevent unnecessary harm to economies," Nkengasong said.
He said the online conference was "a practical and commendable example of the African private sector supporting African-led efforts to fight COVID-19" and that APO Group's vast online network would allow it to reach "not only the largest possible media audience, but also the public all over the continent."
APO Group founder and Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard pointed out that the group had experience working with World Health Organization (WHO) for online press conferences.
The WHO press meeting, held every two weeks since June, was first to be live-streamed on more than 300 Africa-related news websites and on Google.
He said such experience demonstrated the value of live-streaming important press briefings and providing vital news and updates in real time.
"We are proud to now be working, once every month, with the African Union through the Africa CDC, as they have the continental mandate from heads of state and government to lead the continental response to COVID-19," he said.
