In January 2017, the African CDC was officially established under the African Union Special Technical Institute to improve detection, emergency response and communicable and non-communicable disease prevention in all African countries.
The Africa CDC, as an African-owned and managed institution, is an institution capable of supporting and coordinating all health issues in the continent in collaboration with international public health institutions.
The National Reference Laboratory Complex (NRLC) on the premises of Ethiopian Public Health Institute will be constructed to support the CDC-Africa to strengthen its continental and regional infectious disease detection and response systems, early detection and timely reporting of outbreaks, rapid response to infectious diseases and building laboratory capacity.
The design, construction, provision of supplies, commissioning, validation and implementation of the National Reference Laboratory Complex is different from other laboratory projects in Ethiopia. Among the services that will provide the laboratory is expected to serve as a reference laboratory for Ethiopia and neighboring countries regarding research on priority public health problems, communicable and non-communicable diseases, epidemics and diseases related to nutritional problems.
Therefore, the Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute have organized a Technical Working Group (TWG) that supports the construction , commissioning, verification, operation and sustainable management of the the NRLC. The TWG members includes international Development Partners that serve as a platform to provide the required support and advice to achieve operationalization of the NRLC..
International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs ()
The technical working group is chaired by the Director general of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute under the close supervision of state minister, Dr. Dereje Duguma. The group will hold regular meetings every 3 months; Urgent meetings may be called as necessary to monitor the NRLC construction and orgationalization.