In 2025, Africa’s health sector painted a picture of sharp contrasts—a year of hard-won disease-elimination milestones alongside devastating outbreaks that tested the continent’s public health systems.
A Complex Health Landscape
“For children and vulnerable communities, 2025 has been a complex landscape marked by the recurrence of public health emergencies,” said Dr Edna Moturi, United Nations Children’s Fund Regional Health Emergency Specialist for Eastern and Southern Africa. “We have seen outbreaks of cholera, mpox, viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Marburg, and also Ebola.”
Moturi also highlighted a troubling uptick in vaccine-preventable diseases. “We have seen a lot of routine immunization programs stagnating and even declining, and so we are having more and more outbreaks of polio and measles.”
Cholera: The Worst in 25 Years
By November 2025, Africa CDC declared the continent’s cholera outbreak the worst in a quarter-century. Approximately 300,000 confirmed and suspected cases were recorded, and more than 7,000 lives were lost—a 30 percent rise compared to 2024.
Cholera, a severe diarrheal illness, spreads rapidly when sewage and drinking water are not properly treated. Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Nigeria bore the highest burdens, with health systems stretched thin by surging caseloads.
A United Response Toward 2030
In August 2025, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization rolled out the Continental Cholera Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for Africa 1.0. The initiative brought together African heads of state, who pledged to control and eliminate cholera outbreaks by 2030.
As Africa enters 2026, experts stress the urgent need to revitalize immunization programs, strengthen surveillance, and invest in water and sanitation infrastructure. Success will depend on sustained collaboration between governments, global agencies, and local communities to turn this complex health narrative into a story of lasting progress.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
