The Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) on Thursday urged President-elect Donald Trump to honor outgoing President Joe Biden's pledge to provide 1 million doses of monkeypox (or mpox) vaccine to central and eastern Africa. asked.
“We will continue to talk to them and work to fulfill their commitments. Otherwise, the mistrust we have in Africa today will lead to major problems between the United States and the African continent.” ” warned John Kaseya, director of the Africa CDC.
“I can fly and meet with them to discuss what Africa needs in the health sector and how we can work together,” he added.
World Health Organization (WHO) declared In August, there was a global health emergency for mpx. biden announced At the United Nations General Assembly in September, the United States announced it would donate 1 million doses of the mpox vaccine and at least $500 million in funding.
No mpox cases have been reported in the United States, but Biden administration officials have hinted at the possibility of an outbreak and complained that Congress is not providing enough funding to deal with a new pandemic.
“We are really desperate to respond effectively to this moment, and we anticipate that there may be additional cuts in the future, so we have a strong response to this kind of outbreak. “I think it's going to become increasingly difficult to do so,” said an anonymous U.S. official. said Reuters in September.
Reuters on Thursday guessed Part of the Africa CDC's concerns may stem from the fact that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, is on the team.
kennedy said In an interview with NPR on Wednesday, he said it was not his intention to “take away the vaccine from anyone.”
“The science around vaccine safety is particularly flawed. We are committed to ensuring that this scientific research is conducted and that people can make informed choices about vaccinating themselves and their children.” said.
According to the Africa CDC, heaviest request mpox vaccination is currently available in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Other affected countries include the Central African Republic (CAR), Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
In addition to the United States, vaccines are being donated by Canada, the European Union and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance.
Some DRC health officials believe the outbreak is “stabilizing.” The outbreak peaked in July with about 400 new cases per week, and is now seeing 200 to 300 confirmed cases per week. But the WHO is concerned that authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not be testing enough people for the virus, and warns that infections are still spreading in Uganda.
Dr. Saralee Lissa of the non-profit organization ALIMA said The Associated Press reported Wednesday that vigorous vaccination campaigns could eliminate MPOX now and Africa may not have to deal with new variants of the disease in the future.
“If we miss this opportunity, we significantly increase the likelihood of another serious outbreak,” Lissa said. “We have seen how past outbreaks, like the one in Nigeria in 2017, can lead to larger global events if not effectively contained. .”
Dr. Salim Abdul Karim from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa said the current variant of mpox will not burn out and disappear like previous outbreaks.
“We're now entering new territory with mpox,” he said. “Unless we vaccinate most of the population, we will never solve this problem.”
