The WHO’s Africa office stated Thursday that Africa must be part of a worldwide campaign against monkeypox as nations in Europe, the United States, and everywhere else respond to exceptional outbreaks of the illness.
For the sake of keeping monkeypox from becoming endemic in other countries, WHO Africa director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti emphasized the importance of a coordinated global response.
To keep monkeypox from spreading, “it is absolutely crucial that…we share those technologies, we establish capacity around the world and respond to these epidemics” in developed nations, she stated.
In order to prevent a repetition of the inequitable access of COVID-19 vaccinations suffered by African countries at the beginning of the epidemic, Moeti added, “It is absolutely necessary now.”
More than two dozen nations, including the UK, Portugal, Italy, USA, Australia, Israel and Switzerland have lately been confirmed to have monkeypox after it was previously thought to only be present in countries with tropical rainforests in West or Central Africa. Many of the outbreaks appear to be connected to recent sexual behavior at two European parties, in which in excess of 500 cases were documented. It’s safe to say that no one has been killed.
According to health experts, sequencing has thus far failed to prove a direct link to that same outbreak outside of Africa.
Monkeypox has been recorded in 7 of Africa’s 54 countries, and there have been around three times as many cases as normal.
According to the Africa Centers for Illness Control and Prevention, there have been more than 1,400 probable monkeypox cases and 63 fatalities in African nations where the disease is prevalent, the Central African Republic, Congo, and Nigeria.
Dr. Fiona Braka, who heads WHO Africa’s emergency operations in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo, says just 44 of all those reported incidents have been confirmed.
According to Braka, the lack of testing capability in African nations is a factor in the widening disparity between suspect and confirmed cases. There are just 10 African nations that can do testing for the sickness, according to her.
According to her, the battle against monkeypox could be improved by involving communities in methods that lessen stigma around the disease. She noted that additional research is needed into both human-to-human and human-to-human transmission.
Monkeypox and smallpox both belong to the same family of viruses, and WHO estimates that smallpox vaccinations are roughly 85% effective against monkeypox.
As the disease spreads across the industrialised world, nations are considering utilizing antivirals and smallpox immunizations. Individual resources, according to African doctors, should be made available to those in their region.
This year has seen 465 cases of suspected Monkeypox and nine fatalities from the illness in the Congo, according to health officials this week.