This statement, which he wanted to mention in several press conferences organized by the regional office since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, underlines the importance of the fair distribution of vaccines to eradicate the virus.
The World Health Organization may be forced to make a similar call to address the unfair distribution of monkeypox vaccine.
Moves by rich countries to buy large quantities of monkeypox vaccine while refusing to share doses with Africa could leave millions of people unprotected against a more dangerous version of the disease and risk the virus continuing to spread among people, according to the Associated Press, according to public health. officials as they warned in their report on Saturday. Critics fear a repeat of the devastating inequality problems seen during the coronavirus pandemic. “The mistakes we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic are already being repeated,” said Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University. While rich countries have ordered millions of vaccines to stop monkeypox within their borders, none have announced plans to share doses with Africa, where a deadlier form of monkeypox is spreading than in the West. To date, more than 22,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in nearly 80 countries since May, with about 75 suspected deaths in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Congo. On Friday, Brazil and Spain reported deaths linked to monkeypox, the first reported outside Africa. Spain reported a second death from monkeypox on Saturday. “African countries dealing with monkeypox outbreaks for decades have been relegated to a footnote in discussions about the global response,” Titanji said. Scientists say that unlike campaigns to contain COVID-19, mass vaccinations against monkeypox will not be necessary.
They believe that targeted use of available doses, along with other measures, could halt the expanding outbreaks that were recently designated by the WHO as a global health emergency. However, while monkeypox is much more difficult to spread than COVID-19, experts warn that if the disease spreads to general populations – currently in Europe and North America it circulates almost exclusively among gay and bisexual men – the need for vaccines could intensify, especially if the virus becomes established in new areas. On Thursday, Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for the continent to be prioritized for vaccines, saying it has once again fallen behind. “If we are not safe, the rest of the world is not safe,” said Africa CDC deputy director Ahmed Ogwell. Although monkeypox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades, it mostly jumps to humans from infected wild animals and usually has not spread far beyond the continent. Experts suspect that cases of monkeypox in North America and Europe may have originated in Africa long before the disease began to spread through sex at two raves in Spain and Belgium.
Currently, over 70% of monkeypox cases in the world are in Europe and 98% are in men who have sex with men. Director of the Department of Global Health Coverage, Communicable Diseases, at WHO EMRO Yvan Hutin told Asharq Al-Awsat that the organization is working closely with member states and partners to establish a coordination mechanism to ensure that the largest number of countries have access in the vaccine.
The agency is also working with several member states that have larger stockpiles of vaccines to make some of their supplies more accessible to countries that do not have access.
He stressed that assessing what is available and how these vaccines can be used to achieve optimal impact will take time. Meanwhile, he stressed the need to make every effort to control the spread of monkeypox among humans through early detection, diagnosis, isolation and contact tracing.
Hutin further affirmed that information is a powerful tool, enabling the most vulnerable to protect themselves and others.
Some countries have recently approved a smallpox vaccine, but its supply is still limited, while others have the old smallpox vaccine, which can be used to treat the virus.
He pointed out that once vaccines are available, the WHO recommends targeted vaccination for those exposed to people diagnosed with monkeypox.
It also urges people at high risk of exposure to be vaccinated, including healthcare workers, certain laboratory workers and those with multiple sexual partners.
He decided on the need for mass vaccination against monkey pox.
He confirmed that vaccination does not provide immediate protection against infection or disease, noting that the process can take several weeks. This indicates that those who have been vaccinated should continue to take preventive measures, such as avoiding close contact, including sexual contact with others or with people who are at risk of contracting the virus.