ONE spreading quickly The mpox outbreak in Africa has been declared a public health emergency across the continent, as the region’s main health advisory body invoked this power for the first time when moving to mobilize resources.
The declaration will lead countries in the region to share timely information about the spread of mpox with the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, helping them obtain better financial assistance, said Jean Kaseya, director general of the Addis Ababa-based agency. , on Tuesday.
“Today I commit to you that African citizens will lead this fight with all the resources at our disposal,” he said in a virtual press conference. “We will work with the government, international partners and local communities to ensure that all Africans, from busy cities to remote areas, are protected.”
ONE mutated The mpox strain has spread to at least six African countries, infecting around 15,000 people and killing more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year alone. The variant was first reported in the DRC less than 12 months ago.
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Although mpox vaccines are available, few have reached Africa – the only continent where the disease is endemic. Costing about $100 per dose, the vaccines are currently very expensive, Kaseya previously said. Africa will need around $4 billion to combat mpox, money that “we are confident we can leverage,” he said.
Around 200,000 doses will begin to be distributed in the most seriously affected countries over the next two weeks, and work is underway to secure more than 10 million shots that the continent is expected to need, according to Kaseya.
Africa CDC’s decision came one day before a panel of advisors convened by the World Health Organization should come together to help determine whether the deadly outbreak constitutes an international emergency.
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The WHO last declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern in May 2022, when cases of a milder strain emerged worldwide, “but Africa did not get adequate support,” Kaseya said. When the agency lowered its alert level a year later, “cases in Africa continued to rise and today we face the consequence of no assistance,” he said.
The Africa CDC was only mandated to call for regional public health emergencies in 2023, despite the WHO warning that this could also trigger restrictions on travel and trade that would isolate the continent. Still, there is no reason to close borders or disrupt trade, Kaseya said.
“What we were doing before didn’t work,” he said. “We call on our international partners to take this mpox as an opportunity to act differently and to work closely with the African CDC and African countries to provide adequate support to those affected.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
