WESTERN countries holding stockpiles of mpox vaccines are being urged to donate them to regions in Africa facing a rapid spread of a more dangerous strain of the virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the surge in mpox cases a public health emergency of international concern, with Clade 1b cases skyrocketing in the Democratic Republic of Congo and beginning to spread beyond its borders.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as the African Union’s champion on pandemic response, has called for immediate action to ‘correct the unfair treatment’ of Africa in vaccine distribution, drawing comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic when African nations were among the last to receive vaccines.
‘I urge the international community, partners, and organisations to mobilise stockpiles of vaccines and other medical countermeasures for deployment in Africa,’ President Ramaphosa stated on Saturday.
The WHO has also called on countries with mpox vaccine reserves to donate them to nations experiencing ongoing outbreaks. ‘This public health emergency must be different and rectify the unfair treatment from the previous one in 2022, where vaccines and therapeutics were primarily made available to Western countries,’ Ramaphosa added.
Since the start of the year, Africa has reported 18,737 suspected or confirmed mpox cases, including 1,200 cases in a single week, according to the African CDC. This week also saw the first recorded mpox cases outside of Africa, with infections reported in Sweden and Pakistan.
In response, the United States has pledged to donate 50,000 doses of mpox vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo, while France has announced it will send vaccines to countries at risk.
Leif Erik Sander, a German infectious disease expert, emphasised the urgency of sending existing vaccine supplies to Africa, where they would have the greatest impact. ‘The vaccines that are available globally are urgently needed in Africa, where the virus is currently spreading, so that people at risk can build immunity,’ Sander, a professor at Charité, Germany’s largest university hospital, told Reuters.
Mpox, a viral disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as between humans through close physical or sexual contact, presents symptoms such as fever, muscular aches, and large, boil-like skin lesions. As the virus continues to spread, the call for equitable vaccine distribution grows louder, with Africa at the centre of the global response effort.
