The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a united global response to monkeypox rather than two different ones: one for Western countries and another one for Africa.
The world is currently experiencing an outbreak that the WHO has described as “atypical” as many cases are being reported in non-endemic countries that have not previously had significant spread among people with no travel to endemic zones.
The WHO added that though the virus has not spread to new non-endemic countries in Africa, it has extended its geographic reach within countries with outbreaks in recent years.
“We must work together and have joined-up global actions which include Africa’s experience, expertise and needs. This is the only way to ensure we reinforce surveillance and better understand the evolution of the disease, while scaling up readiness and response to curb any further spread,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said.
Moeti called for greater inclusion of Africa in the fight against the latest outbreak noting that increase in cases can be stopped as the region had contained past monkeypox outbreaks.
Moeti also urged for equality and fairness in the distribution of potential vaccines against the viral disease rather than the massive inequalities that dogged the response to the coronavirus pandemic which saw Africa lag behind other regions.
“It is critical that the continent has equal access to effective monkeypox vaccines and that globally we ensure vaccine doses reach every community in need. While parts of the continent might have built up some immunity against the disease, there are populations that are particularly vulnerable such as health workers and contacts of cases.”
According to the WHO, a new vaccine against smallpox and monkeypox has been approved but is not yet widely available.
Monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from animals to humans but can also spread between people through close contact with an infected person, and /or objects including clothes and bedsheets as well as droplets.
The disease was first detected in humans in 1970 in Africa and since then most cases have been reported in rural and rainforest areas. Though a few cases were reported occasionally, a surge in cases was reported in 2017 eventually peaking in 2020 with more than 6300 suspected cases, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounting for 95 percent of the total.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said that 550 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported to the UN health agency from 30 countries that are not endemic to the monkeypox virus.
Meanwhile, at least seven African countries have reported close to 1,400 monkeypox cases out of which 44 are confirmed cases. These countries are Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.
(Story compiled with input from wire reports)
