Kinshasa, October 23rd, 2025 (CPA).- A new incident management room was inaugurated on Wednesday in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), through its public health emergency operations centre (COUSP), according to a statement from the institution received by CPA on Thursday. ‘The National Institute of Public Health (INSP), through its Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (COUSP), inaugurated a new modern incident management room on Wednesday, the result of enhanced collaboration with Africa CDC,’ the statement has said.
According to the source, this initiative marks a major step forward in the modernisation of health emergency response systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The document indicated that, in the spirit of partnership and African solidarity, several key players in the health sector gathered for the ceremony, namely representatives from Africa CDC, the Ministry in charge of Health, INSP and COUSP. ‘Together, they welcomed this achievement, which aims to optimise working conditions and increase the effectiveness of public health interventions at national and regional level,’ it is said. On this occasion, a representative of the Director General of INSP expressed his deep gratitude to Africa CDC for its technical and logistical support. He emphasised that this state-of-the-art facility will strengthen the detection, prevention and rapid management of health incidents, in line with the vision of a resilient and responsive public health system.
In addition, Professor Christian Ngandu, COUSP coordinator, welcomed this significant step forward in the operationalization of the centre. He thanked Africa CDC for its continued support, noting that this new equipment will improve not only the working conditions of staff, but also the coordination of responses during health emergencies. For his part, the Africa CDC representative recalled that this initiative is part of the second phase of the partnership between the two institutions. The first phase focused on the installation of technical equipment, and the second phase, he announced, will focus on strengthening staff capacities to ensure optimal use of the infrastructure and tools made available. The ceremony ended with a guided tour of the incident management room, during which participants were able to discover the new equipment, its functionalities and the modernised working environment. This room thus consolidates the role of the COUSP as the central pillar of the Incident Management System (IMS) in the DRC, contributing to better preparedness and response to public health emergencies.