Africa Health Security Index

Improving epidemic and pandemic preparedness and strengthening biosecurity in Africa.

No country is fully prepared for future pandemic or epidemic threats, and African nations face unique challenges and opportunities in building resilient health systems, sustaining investments and core capacities, and strengthening health security governance.

What is the AHS Index?

The Africa Health Security (AHS) Index is a comprehensive, independent assessment of epidemic and pandemic preparedness across Africa.

The index, launching in 2026, will enable leaders to measure, finance, and advance improvements in health security and create an evidence-based accountability framework to track progress toward better epidemic and pandemic preparedness in Africa.

Why is it needed?

The world remains dangerously unprepared for the next biological threat. Despite meaningful action taken by African countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Global Health Security (GHS) Index indicated that the continent is unprepared to sufficiently prevent, detect, and respond to high-consequence biological threats. The average overall GHS Index score for African nations is 29 out of a possible 100 which leaves significant opportunity for improvement.

Leaders across the world continue to neglect investing in epidemic and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, regardless of their income level. Political will and sustainable financial resources will be critical in building lasting capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging biological threats.

What does the AHS Index do?

Created on the recommendation of African public health leaders, the AHS Index will provide new data on health security targets across the continent, including new preparedness indicators at the intersection of health and climate security.

The AHS Index will use innovative data collection and analytic approaches to enhance the Global Health Security (GHS) Index. It will enable African leaders to track the impact of programs to improve health security on the continent and identify opportunities to advance epidemic and pandemic preparedness. In collaboration with African partners, the AHS Index will evaluate data from a broad set of health security indicators, building on the GHS Index framework, and will include a focused analysis of African priorities:

Preventing accidental and deliberate biological events (biosafety and biosecurity)
Detecting and reporting emerging outbreaks (biosurveillance)
Bolstering medical countermeasure development and deployment
Assessing how climate change affects health security on the African continent and in subregions
Evaluating how the African continent’s five regions have built regional capacities to augment national health security infrastructure

The AHS Index will:

Create political accountability to incentivize governments to invest in pandemic preparedness capacity within their borders.
Provide data for donors and governments to make evidence-based decisions to prioritize resource allocation more effectively, maximizing the impact of investments.
Set a standard for biosecurity and pandemic preparedness.

The AHS Index Reference Group

The Africa Health Security Index Reference Group is a group of African experts providing strategic direction for the project, ensuring that it effectively serves the needs of African public health and health security leaders. Members include:

Prof. Ali Asy, Animal Health Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Egypt
Mr. Donewell Bangure, Laboratory Systems and Networks Division African Union, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Ethiopia
Mr. Ian Peter Busuulwa, Biological Threat Reduction, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Kenya
Dr. Rym Benkhalifa, Laboratory of Biomolecules, Venoms and Theranostic Applications Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia
Mrs. Idosie Kenfack, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Burundi
Dr. Issa Makumbi, Uganda National Institute of Public Health; Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), Uganda
Dr. Talkmore Maruta, African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), Zambia
Mr. Zibusiso Masuku, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, South Africa
Dr. Augustin Mouinga-Ondeme, Département de Virologie, Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon
Dr. Tolbert Nyenswah, PandemicShield, LLC; Department of International Health, John Hopkins University, Liberia
Dr. Chinwe Lucia Ochu, Planning, Research and Statistics, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Nigeria (currently in Washington, DC)
Dr. Donald I. Ofili, West Africa Regional Technical Working Group on Biosafety and Biosecurity; MLSCN Accreditation Service, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Nigeria
Dr. Judy Omumbo, Science Solutions for Emerging Global Priorities, Science for Africa Foundation, Kenya
Dr. Samira Senouci, Moroccan Biosafety Association; Microbiology and Health Security Department, National Institute for Hygiene, Ministry of Health, Morocco (Ret.)
Ms. Lizeka Tandwa, Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Dr. Oyewale Tomori, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria

Individuals on the AHS Index Reference Group are experts providing guidance in their personal capacities or in their capacities as representatives of advising organizations. The judgments and recommendations reflected in the AHS Index do not necessarily reflect the views of panel members or their respective employers, other affiliations, or governments.

Partners

The AHS Index is developed by NTI | bio, in partnership with the Brown University Pandemic Center, and Economist Impact, in collaboration with Science for Africa Foundation, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), and University of Tunis El Manar (Tunis, Tunisia). Funding is provided by the Gates Foundation.

Project Team

NTI | bio

Nathan A. Paxton, PhD Senior Director, Global Biological Policy and Programs Nuclear Threat Initiative	Rachel Staley Grant Senior Director, Global Biological Policy and Programs Nuclear Threat Initiative	Hayley Severance, MPH Deputy Vice President, Global Biological Policy and Programs Nuclear Threat Initiative
Sara Kaufman Executive Assistant & Events Coordinator, Global Biological Policy and Programs Nuclear Threat Initiative	Scott Nolan Smith Senior Director, Communications Nuclear Threat Initiative

Brown University Pandemic Center

Jennifer Nuzzo, PhD Director Brown University Pandemic Center	Wilmot James, PhD Senior Advisor Brown University Pandemic Center	Beth Cameron, PhD Senior Advisor Brown University Pandemic Center
Leah Lovgren Associate Director for Research and Program Management Brown University Pandemic Center	Carly Gasca Project Director Brown University Pandemic Center	Margaret Dunne PhD Candidate; Index Data Analyst Brown University Pandemic Center

Economist Impact

Ken Lane
Vice President for Global
Partnerships
Economist Impact

Elly Vaughan
Principal – Health Policy
Economist Impact

Ailia Haider
Manager – Policy & Insights
Economist Impact

Science for Africa Foundation

Judy Omumbo, PhD
Head of Partnerships & Resource
Mobilization
Science for Africa Foundation

Evelyn Gitau, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Science for Africa Foundation

Tom Kariuki, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Science for Africa Foundation

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)

Lizeka Tandwa Lecturer Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand	Siposihle Bungane Associate Researcher Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand	Catarina Sakaita Associate Researcher Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand
Tauseef Ally Associate Researcher Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand

University of Tunis El Manar

Hanene Boussi, PhD Professor; Vice President in charge of Sustainable Impact and Rankings Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)	Chamseddine Barki, PhD Assistant Professor in Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering / Digital Health Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)	Rym Ben Khalifa, PhD Professor Pasteur Institute – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)
Sabri Barbaria, PhD Assistant Professor in Medical Informatics Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)	Souhir Chabchoub, PhD Assistant Professor in Biophysics Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)	Halima Mahjoubi, PhD Professor Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)
Nesrine ben El Hadj Hassine PhD candidate; Researcher – Nurse Anesthesiologist Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM) and Hospital Mongi Slim La Marsa	Mariem Chouchen PhD Candidate; Researcher Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis – University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)	Leila Battikh Head of the Academic Staff Affairs University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)
Majed Harchi Head of Informatics Office University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)	Moez Chafra, PhD President and Professor in Engineering, Biomechanics and Biomaterials University of Tunis El Manar (UTM)