During the 2024 mpox outbreak, Africa CDC declared a continental public health emergency before the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its global alert. The move marked a significant moment in global health governance, as a regional African institution asserted its authority to declare a major health emergency.
In a new essay published in AJIL Unbound (American Journal of International Law), Research Director of Global Health Law, Roojin Habibi examines how regional
alert mechanisms like the Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS)
challenge traditional global hierarchies, create a pathway for greater African agency, and self-reliance, and highlight both the potential and the pitfalls of emergency declarations in a fragmented global health system.
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