(VitalNews.org) – The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been the center of an outbreak of mpox, specifically the new clade 1b variant. However, none of the African countries that have been affected by the outbreak have received any of the promised vaccines, which was planned for last week.
There are over eighteen thousand suspected mpox cases and over six hundred deaths this year according to the World Health Organization. The variant has traveled to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand, and Sweden.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Chief, said that the first doses should arrive “within days” but these types of statements were made previously as well, to no avail.
There have been promises from Spain, France, Germany, and the United States to donate vaccines to the area. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that of the two hundred and forty five million dollars they requested, only ten percent has been funded.
African nations are much more vulnerable for spreads especially because they rely on donations from richer nations in order to receive vaccines.
Infectious disease physician for Niger Delta University, Dr. Dimie Ogoina, said that there wasn’t a widespread concern or reaction to the disease until it hit North America and Europe. Ogoina said that the African countries should invest in protecting themselves as much as possible against the disease and to not rely on donors.
Ogoina said, “The manufacturers are not based in Africa,” and continued, “They tend to favour, knowingly or unknowingly, the global north. So if there’s a list of people to procure, Africa is always last in the list, and we are always the last to get supplies.”
The World Health Organization declared a health emergency last month in response to the spread of mpox’s clade 1b variant, which spreads through close physical contact.
There’s been concern over high numbers of children dying as the mortality rate is up eight percent for children under fifteen years.
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