Strengthening health systems in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa through the WHO Hub for emergency preparedness and outbreak response

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases continue to pose significant threats to lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in Africa, where health systems are often resource-constrained and prone to disruptions. Drivers such as climate change, antimicrobial resistance, urbanization, civil war, poverty, globalization of travel, and high population mobility exacerbate outbreak risk and severity. This paper outlines how LMICs can strengthen health system resilience and respond more effectively to such threats by adopting practical tools and frameworks offered by the WHO Hub for Emergency Preparedness and Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Key initiatives, including Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS), the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), and Public Health Intelligence (PHI) capacity-building, support early detection, genomic surveillance, and data-driven decision-making. We highlight practical strategies for LMICs, including integration of Hub outputs into national policy, sustainable financing, workforce development, institutional strengthening, regional collaboration, and monitoring and evaluation. While challenges such as infrastructure gaps, data governance, and reliance on external funding remain, the WHO Hub provides a structured pathway for LMICs to enhance outbreak preparedness, reduce response times, and mitigate the impact of future epidemics.