The call came as international experts gathered on Sunday to discuss the need to avoid repeating mistakes made in the early HIV response. Marina Klein, director of research and professor of medicine in the division of infectious and chronic viral diseases at McGill University in Que., said Montreal could set an example as it becomes critical to improve the global response to monkeypox. “There was a very quick response in Montreal to deal with the increasing infections, with the implementation of a very liberal and open, accessible vaccine,” Klein said in an interview on Sunday. Montreal was the initial epicenter of the outbreaks in Canada, with about 360 confirmed cases as of July 29. There are now more than 800 confirmed cases of smallpox in the country. However, the rate of infections has begun to stabilize and hit a plateau in Montreal, Klein said. “Part of that came directly from the Department of Public Health but also with community involvement, which was key to educating about the importance of the vaccine,” he said. Klein, however, said she’s concerned that other provinces, particularly Saskatchewan, won’t have the same ease of connecting with vulnerable communities. “Although there are only two cases so far identified … we know that in Saskatchewan there have been many challenges, both with HIV and sexually transmitted infections, especially among vulnerable populations including aboriginal communities,” Klein said. He emphasized the importance of community engagement and vaccine response readiness, but also the need to study the extent of monkeypox transmission. “We responded quickly, but nowhere in the world did we respond quickly enough to deal with it and get rid of it in the short time we needed,” he said. “Now we’re going to have to change our equipment and think about how we’re going to control this in the long term.” Her criticisms were echoed by several other speakers at Sunday’s conference. Keletso Makofane, a public health researcher at Harvard University, called the global monkeypox response “worse than the initial response to HIV.” More than 19,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in recent months from 78 countries, mostly among men who have sex with men. “We knew enough to have done a lot better to contain this thing,” Makofane said in an interview, adding that general fatigue from fighting COVID-19 made the monkeypox response slower than it would have been. ought. Makofane also denounced thousands of vaccine doses in Denmark, while the number of cases continues to rise. Unlike the numerous companies that have developed vaccines for COVID-19, Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic is the only manufacturer of the vaccine used against monkeypox. “It’s outrageous and it’s worse than HIV in the sense that we have the tools to respond,” Makofane said. Dr Meg Doherty, director of the World Health Organization’s global programs on HIV, hepatitis and STDs, told attendees that an equitable approach is critical to ensure tools are available not only in wealthier countries, but also in Africa where monkeypox is traditionally found. “Thirty-five countries have access or are requesting access to the vaccines … is there a risk that the countries making (requests for) access will come from rich countries? That is a very likely risk,” Doherty said on Sunday. “We want equality. We can’t have a response to monkeypox that’s just the UK, Canada and the United States.” The 2022 international AIDS conference — from July 29 to Tuesday — is expected to attract more than 9,000 delegates from around the world, with another 2,000 registered to participate remotely. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 31, 2022.
