The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has just recently unveiled an Africa CDC Laboratory that was funded by the Chinese at the headquarters in Ethiopia. This has surely, marked, another major milestone for the health diplomacy of China. This facility, called The Dr. Wu Lien-the Laboratory, which acquired its name from a Chinese-Malaysian epidemiologist who was very instrumental in the eradication of the plague in Manchuria during the year 1911, is anticipated to address the shortage of laboratory systems in the African continent. This new facility consists of a couple of high-containment Bio-safety Level 3 laboratories, which is ranked the second-highest rating in a four-tier system.
China has been pushing forward to strengthen its health diplomacy in the African continent as the Asian country is positioned as a key player in the international global health market. Both Africa and China CDC are very keen on the enhancement of their collaboration on quite a number of areas. This reference Africa CDC Laboratory is in line with the Africa CDC strategic priorities, thus enhancing its overall capacity of responding quickly and very effectively to any arising threats in the public health sector.
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Africa CDC Laboratory Construction Cost
The cost of constructing and equipping the Africa CDC Laboratory was not revealed. However, the $80 million Africa CDC headquarters based in Addis Ababa was fully furnished and equipped with cutting edge facilities by the government of China as a gift to Africans. This new Africa CDC Laboratory facility is shall be a training and a center for quality assurance and shall offer support for evaluating and validating the diagnostic technologies and tools. . The two CDCs will be utilized in diagnosing and responding to outbreak of diseases and also provide disease surveillance and warn of upcoming disease outbreaks.
During the year 2015, the United States and the African Union reached an agreement to come up with Africa CDC. The US had agreed to give its technical expertise and also provide a good number of staff members that would provide support in leading the project.
