The CDC Global AIDS Program’s Angola office opened in 2002. Since then, CDC provides the Angolan Ministry of Health critical support for HIV surveillance, including vital technical assistance to create a National HIV/AIDS surveillance system. In addition, CDC works with Angola to build essential capacity for laboratory, monitoring and evaluation, and information systems, and provides technical leadership and direct assistance to the Ministry of Health to strengthen operations research and workforce capacity-essential components for strong, sustainable public health systems.
CDC is helping Angola collect information for program improvement by coordinating strategic information activities among multiple stakeholders, including the government of Angola, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the Global Fund, and the World Bank. It has helped Angola implement the 2004, 2005, and 2007 Antenatal Seroprevalence Surveys that serve to provide essential information for HIV/AIDS programs.
CDC builds in-country capacity for high-quality laboratorians and national laboratory services and systems to assist with the rapid expansion of HIV treatment, diagnosis and care and serves as a reference lab for TB and other diseases. CDC is strengthening national laboratory systems in Angola, supporting use of rapid HIV tests and helping to validate those tests and establish a national HIV testing algorithm; and developing and equipping a national level-2 biosafety laboratory.
CDC International Influenza Program
The CDC’s International Influenza Program provides the scientific and programmatic foundation and leadership for the diagnosis, prevention, and control of influenza internationally.
To carry out its mission, CDC:
- Conducts global surveillance to guide vaccine formulation and understand the effects of influenza.
- Conducts state-of-the-art research to better understand various characteristics of influenza viruses. This research helps to develop better tools for the prevention and control of influenza.
- Provides international technical assistance for outbreak investigations, the expansion of laboratory and epidemiologic capacity, and international and domestic training.
In Angola, CDC funded Cooperative Agreement with the Ministry of Health provides capacity building, laboratory infrastructure and Implementation of Influenza Sentinel Surveillance.
CDC’s malaria program works in Angola through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), a U.S. government initiative designed to cut malaria deaths in half in target countries in sub-Saharan Africa. PMI is an interagency initiative led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented together with CDC, the primary technical partner for this program. After PMI was announced in 2005, Angola was selected as one of the first three target countries to implement PMI, and in 2006 CDC posted a resident advisor in Luanda to support PMI activities.
Work done by CDC in the past contributed substantially to the development of the essential package of malaria interventions endorsed by the World Health Organization and adopted by PMI – insecticide-treated bed nets, effective antimalarials to treat malaria, preventive treatment for pregnant women, and indoor residual spraying . In Angola, PMI, along with its partners, has procured and distributed millions of these life-saving interventions.
In Angola, through PMI, CDC has provided technical assistance to the Angola National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in several areas.
CDC Global Immunization Program
Since 1991, the CDC’s Global Immunization Division (GID) has been collaborating with Ministries of Health and international partners in providing epidemiologic, laboratory, and programmatic expertise, and financial support for polio eradication, measles, rubella, integrated vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance, and strengthening immunization systems.
As part of the CDC efforts to assist the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), GID created the Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) program in 1999. These volunteers provide a range of technical support: conducting field surveillance for polio, training local health care providers in surveillance, planning and monitoring polio and measles vaccination campaigns. In addition, volunteers have helped establish and enhance data management systems for disease surveillance in selected countries.
In Angola, CDC’s has funded cooperative agreements with WHO and UNICEF/UNF, focusing on buying vaccine for polio vaccination and maintaining quality acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance to help implement the adopted GPEI strategy for polio eradication by 2013.
CDC Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program
Since 1980, CDC has helped partner countries develop and implement field epidemiology training programs (FETPs) and field epidemiology and laboratory training programs (FELTPs), designed to provide countries with the capacity to improve and strengthen their public health system and infrastructure.
CDC works with Ministries of Health (MOHs) and other partners to build sustainability and capacity through key strategies that emphasize applying public health science and practice, and demonstrating measurable public health impact.
In Angola, CDC has implemented a short course in epidemiology and initiated the development of a FELTP, to start in 2011.
