Aernan Lubem
With monkey pox cases subsiding in Europe and parts of North America, many scientists say now is the time to prioritize stopping the virus in Africa.
In July, the United Nation (U.N.) health agency designated monkey pox as a global emergency and appealed to the world to support African countries so that the catastrophic vaccine inequity that plagued the outbreak of COVID-19 would not be repeated.
Placide Mbala, a virologist who directs the global health research department at Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research said nothing has changed adding that the focus is all on monkey pox in the West.
Reports show that monkey pox has sickened people in parts of West and Central Africa since the 1970s, but it was not until the disease triggered unusual outbreaks in Europe and North America that public health officials even thought to use vaccines.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in June said it would create a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help needy countries get doses, so far that has not happened.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director, said Africa is still not benefiting from either vaccines or the antiviral treatments, adding that only small amounts have been available for research purposes.
