African nations are demanding stronger legal frameworks to prepare for future pandemics. This push comes after repeated health emergencies, including Ebola and COVID-19, exposed significant weaknesses in the continent’s response systems. The Pan-African Parliament has specifically called on African Union member states to accelerate the integration of continental health frameworks into their national laws. This action aims to strengthen pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response capabilities across Africa.
The resolution originated from the Pan-African Parliament’s Committee on Health, Labour and Social Affairs. Ghanaian lawmaker Frank Annoh-Dompreh chairs this committee. The committee highlighted that outbreaks such as HIV, Ebola, COVID-19, mpox, Marburg, and recurring cholera crises have revealed critical gaps in Africa’s health systems and legal structures. These challenges include fragmented institutional mandates, limited cross-border information sharing, slow emergency procurement processes, and inadequate emergency financing mechanisms.
This initiative fits into a broader narrative of Africa seeking greater self-reliance and resilience in public health. The continent has historically faced disproportionate impacts from global health crises. Strengthening legal preparedness is now considered a crucial component of Africa’s overall health security strategy. While public health policies outline government goals, robust legislation provides the necessary authority to implement these policies effectively and consistently.
The Pan-African Parliament is urging countries to domesticate frameworks from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). These frameworks cover vital areas such as biosafety and biosecurity, public health institutions, emergency preparedness, data governance, local manufacturing of health products, and cross-border health cooperation. This domestication process will ensure a harmonized and effective response across the continent.
The committee also reiterated calls for African countries to honor the Abuja Declaration. This declaration commits member states to allocate at least 15 per cent of their national budgets to health. Furthermore, it urged member states to establish statutory contingency funds. These funds would provide essential financial support for emergency responses during future health crises, preventing reliance on ad-hoc funding.
Stronger collaboration with the Africa CDC is deemed critical for achieving Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda. This agenda is built on five core pillars. These pillars include strong public health governance, expanded manufacturing of health products, increased investment in the health workforce, greater domestic investment in health, and the development of trusted health data systems. These components are designed to create a comprehensive and sustainable health security architecture.
The committee also called for accelerated ratification and implementation of key continental health instruments. These include the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection and the Treaty establishing the African Medicines Agency. Strengthening regulatory systems is also a priority to improve Africa’s capacity to produce and manage essential health products locally. This reduces dependency on external supply chains.
The partnership between the Pan-African Parliament and Africa CDC is considered essential for protecting African populations. This collaboration aims to safeguard against current and future public health threats. The committee has requested ongoing technical support from Africa CDC for national parliaments and the Pan-African Parliament. This support will focus on pandemic preparedness and intervention strategies. The resolution will be formally adopted in Midrand, South Africa, on July 30, 2026.