Africa CDC backs Mark Dybul’s Global Fund appointment, seeks stronger health cooperation

ETHIOPIA—The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for stronger cooperation with the Global Fund to advance African health priorities after appointing Dr. Mark Dybul as the fund’s next Executive Director on 7 November 2026.

During a telephone conversation with Dr Dybul, Africa CDC Director General H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya congratulated him on his appointment and outlined the continent’s expectations for the partnership, focusing on African ownership, sustainable financing and health sovereignty.

Dr Dybul returns to the Global Fund at a time when African countries face increasing pressure to finance their health systems as external development assistance comes under strain.

The changing funding environment has also intensified calls to reform global health financing and give countries greater control over their health priorities.

Africa pushes for greater ownership of health financing

Africa CDC’s Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda (AHSS) calls for African governments to take a leading role in setting health priorities, allocating resources and implementing programmes.

International partners, including the Global Fund, are expected to support this shift by strengthening national institutions and financing systems.

The agency is advocating for predictable funding, increased domestic resource mobilisation and transition arrangements that reflect individual countries’ financial and institutional capacities.

It also wants development partners to channel more investments through national planning, budgeting, procurement and financial management systems rather than maintaining parallel structures.

These changes are intended to improve accountability, reduce administrative costs and protect essential health services as countries gradually assume greater responsibility for programme financing.

Local manufacturing and regional procurement

Africa CDC also wants to use the Global Fund’s purchasing power to expand local production of essential medicines, diagnostics and other health technologies.

Greater procurement commitments could give African manufacturers more predictable demand, supporting investment in production capacity, technology transfer, and quality assurance.

The agency sees the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) as an important platform for coordinating regional demand and improving access to locally manufactured health products.

Closer collaboration with the Global Fund could also strengthen supply chain resilience and reduce dependence on imported medical commodities.

Kaseya said Dr. Dybul’s familiarity with the Global Fund and Africa would be important in advancing the partnership.

He emphasised the need for African countries to strengthen their institutions, develop sustainable financing models and expand domestic manufacturing to meet their health needs.

He also highlighted the importance of maintaining access to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment services.

This includes strengthening laboratories, primary healthcare facilities, community health programmes and frontline health worker capacity.

New technologies, including long-acting HIV prevention products, improved tuberculosis diagnostics and treatments, and next-generation malaria tools, will also require investment to ensure they reach communities across the continent.

Existing partnership provides framework

The cooperation builds on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Africa CDC and the Global Fund in May 2026.

The agreement provides a framework for collaboration in national health system strengthening, domestic resource mobilisation, regional procurement, local manufacturing and community health services.

Africa CDC has also acknowledged outgoing Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands for his contribution to strengthening the organisation’s engagement with African countries.

It expects to work with Dr. Dybul, the Global Fund Board and African Member States to advance the priorities outlined in the partnership.

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