Background

In one of the earliest collaborations between UKHSA’s International Health Regulations Strengthening Project (IHR-SP) and Africa CDC, IHR-SP’s One Health (OH) and Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) teams have provided technical support to the concept and development of Africa CDC’s regional Knowledge Hub, known as the Africa CDC Knowledge Management Portal.

Africa CDC had identified the need for a mechanism to address the observed public health information gap between what is available through relevant health intelligence data and resources, and what is being used for planning and collaboration in Member States across the African Union. Africa CDC conceived the regional Knowledge Hub as a mechanism for applying comprehensive and integrated approaches to managing available knowledge and utilising it for evidence-based action and policy in Africa.

A multi-disciplinary team of experts leading the development

The initial Knowledge Hub project was conceived in 2022 and was designed to provide a rapid standardised process to support the Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) of Africa CDC in being information repositories useful for identifying regional priorities and informing the development of strategies, such as the new Africa CDC strategy (2023-2027). The areas of OH and EPRR were selected to pilot the methodology as both are critical areas of global health security that require a collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary approach. In addition, the OH aspect brings together the human, animal and environmental health sectors.

The initial proposal included a desk-based evidence review, a stakeholder analysis based on key stakeholder interviews, and a preliminary consultation workshop with Member States in the Southern RCC to test the concept. However, it soon became clear that a different approach was required, and in discussion with the lead coordinator at Africa CDC, the project design evolved with the IHR-SP and Africa CDC teams working closely together to develop a prototype template database repository or Knowledge Hub. A core team was established to steer the Knowledge Hub work, this included members from Africa CDC, technical and IT consultants, representatives from the RCCs and UKHSA’s IHR-SP.

Creating a database of resources

IHR-SP supported the development of the first prototype of the Knowledge Hub portal by creating an initial database of over 200 publicly available resources. This included documents and links to databases, policy documents, research technical reports, guidance, and training materials, which were manually extracted by the IHR-SP team from open-access sources. 

The initial data collection was undertaken in a structured way using systematic searches of WHO, WHO AFRO, Africa CDC, African Union websites against topic areas as per Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and additional topic areas or documents identified by the core team or additional relevant institutional websites (e.g., World Bank for socioeconomic data). All open-access documents were organised and searchable by source institution, type of document (i.e., policy document, technical report, guidance etc.), topic (i.e., health system, infection prevention and control, one health, antimicrobial resistance etc.), sub-topic, and country (including global/regional). Available quantitative indicators and trends on public health, healthcare, demographics, socioeconomic, and public health assets and capabilities, covering national level indicators for countries within the Southern RCC were also collected.

It was envisaged that there would eventually be knowledges hubs for each RCC and their member states. It was also decided that there would be an open-access space (open-access/non-sensitive data) and a separate area for health experts and policy makers which would need authentication to access i.e., separate areas for Member States, Africa CDC.

Trialling the regional prototype

In October 2022, IHR-SP experts facilitated a two-day workshop in Ethiopia for internal Africa CDC stakeholders to showcase the Knowledge Hub concept and the prototype portal, and to gain a deeper understanding of their knowledge sharing needs. The workshop focused on familiarisation with the Knowledge Hub concept and the practical application of the prototype with a view to evaluating its functionality, utility, and usability.

Recommendations from the workshop were fed back to Africa CDC and further informed the development of the Knowledge Hub. Feedback included using automated data collection tools and electronic update systems, with appropriate governance mechanisms for validation of data, and collection of data directly from Member States, through Africa CDC.

Photo: The planning and development workshop to support the establishment of the Regional Knowledge Hub held in Ethiopia, October 2022

IHR-SP continued to support the Knowledge Hub in 2023/24 through attending regular core team meetings and contributing to drafting methodology documents and papers for submission to peer-reviewed journals. The core team has engaged with both internal and external stakeholders and taken forward recommendations to further develop and validate the Knowledge Hub methodology.

Advancing public health across the Africa continent

Africa CDC has now fully adopted the Knowledge Hub concept as the Africa CDC Knowledge Management Portal. IHR-SP’s OH and EPRR teams have successfully supported and contributed to this project from its inception, through to the start of its implementation.  

Building on the foundations of the work undertaken in partnership by Africa CDC and IHR-SP for the regional Knowledge Hub, Africa CDC, together with member states of the African Union will now continue to grow the Knowledge Hub as a ‘premier destination for advancing public health across the Africa continent’.

In September 2023, Africa CDC facilitated its first implementation workshop in a member state (Botswana). This provided feedback for the development of a Knowledge Hub tailored to the needs of stakeholders in Botswana. An action plan for implementation of the Knowledge Hub in other Member States has since been developed and the technical work to refine and adapt it for individual Member States is ongoing.