Under the related Global Health Security Index, which uses the same methodology, high-income countries score on average 61.6. The United States scores the highest at 75.9, while Britain’s health security measure sits at 67.2.
Biosecurity has also improved across the African continent since 2021, measured against factors like stronger legislation on containing samples of dangerous pathogens, training for staff in high-risk laboratories, and ensuring samples are transported securely – for example, from a rural clinic treating a sick patient to a central lab for testing.
The number of countries with an agency specifically responsible for biosafety legislation and regulation has also grown significantly. In 2021, only Nigeria had a dedicated biosecurity agency, but by 2026, 12 countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ghana, had established them as well.
The ability of countries to detect and report pathogens quickly has also improved considerably across West, East, and Southern Africa, the report found.
Uganda was singled out as having made one of the most dramatic improvements in disease detection. After introducing a programme in 2021 to ensure rapid reporting of outbreaks to the central government, 74 per cent of the country’s hospitals were reporting disease outbreaks within one day by 2026.
The East African country has reported outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg virus this year, and has been credited with successfully containing their spread.
But while health security infrastructure is improving in Africa, it is doing so unevenly.
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is currently battling the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, still face challenges transporting samples long distances for testing and have gaps in laboratory coverage, both of which significantly delay the identification of infectious diseases.
Only eight African countries operate centralised systems that track which laboratories in their countries currently have samples of dangerous pathogens, like Yellow Fever, Ebola, and Mpox, from sick patients.
