Africa Health Security Index index reveals significant gaps in critical infrastructure, despite progress

A new Africa Health Security (AHS) Index, released on July 22, 2026, against the backdrop of a devastating Ebola disease outbreak, reveals significant gaps in critical health infrastructure despite important progress in health security capacity in recent years.

The Report also acknowledged the improving climate-related health security capacity with access to water and sanitation infrastructure, to better manage risks linked to climate change, indicating that countries had more capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to zoonotic diseases, with increased legislation, surveillance, data sharing, and emergency response planning.

Developed by a coalition of African and global research organisations, public health and security experts, the AHS Index assessed all 54 African countries based on answers to 190 questions.