WHO Declares Mpox a Global Public Health Emergency as Africa Awaits Vaccines

The World Health Organization has declared mpox to be a global public health emergency. The viral disease, formerly known as monkeypox, spreads through close physical contact and can cause fevers, rashes and extremely painful lesions. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also declared a public health emergency over mpox earlier this week after logging over 15,000 cases. Scientists say this strain of mpox has a fatality rate of around 5% in adults and double that in children. For more, we speak with Nigerian journalist Zubaida Baba Ibrahim, who says there is still a shortage of mpox vaccines in Africa two years after the last major outbreak. “We need to decolonize global health, where we’re not just waiting for vaccines from somewhere else to come to Africa,” she says. “African leaders need to wake up and realize that this is dire and it needs proactive measures.”

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report.

We look now at the spread of the mpox virus as the first cases outside Africa have now been confirmed in Pakistan and Sweden. The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency after an outbreak of the viral disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo also spread to a dozen other African countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the threat of cross-border spread remains high.

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS: It’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives. A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alarm under international health law.

AMY GOODMAN: This is the second time the World Health Organization issues a public health emergency over mpox since an outbreak in 2022 of a different version of the virus, which at the time infected nearly 100,000 people in over 100 nations.

Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control declared a public health emergency, as well. So far this year, Africa CDC has logged over 15,000 suspected cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, which can cause fever, rashes and extremely painful lesions. It often spreads through close, intimate physical contact. Scientists say the new strain of mpox is more lethal, with a fatality rate of around 5% in adults, double that in children. Jean Kaseya is director general of the Africa CDC.

DR. JEAN KASEYA: This is not just an African issue. Mpox is a global threat, a menace that knows no boundaries, no race, no creed. It is a virus that exploits our vulnerabilities, preying on our weakest points.

AMY GOODMAN: The Africa CDC said in May it was struggling to secure any of the millions of doses of mpox vaccine it requested from drug companies.

For more, we go to the capital of Nigeria, to Abuja, where we’re joined by Zubaida Baba Ibrahim, Nigerian journalist and sub-editor at Nigeria Health Watch, where her new piece is headlined “Mpox Vaccine: Africa’s Wait Continues Two Years After Global Outbreak.”

Welcome to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with us, Zubaida Baba Ibrahim. Can you talk about the vaccine, the difficulty in getting it, and what mpox means for Africa?

ZUBAIDA BABA IBRAHIM: Thank you very much, and thank you for having me on the show.

So, yeah, the situation is quite dire, even though it’s still developing as more countries are confirming cases. But I just wanted to say that while mpox is something that people hear once in a blue moon, in West and Central Africa, where it is endemic, it is something that has been reoccurring for years.

So, first of all, I’ll just go back to some sort of history for Nigeria, where I am now. So, back in 2017, when the mpox virus resurged and reemerged in Nigeria in the southwest region of Nigeria, so there was a lot of call for international, for the African Union to weigh in on it, because it had just reemerged after decades. And people saw that there were lots of research gaps about what it is, how to handle it. And Nigeria sounded the alarm to a lot of partners, a lot of international partners that could weigh in. But at the point, the calls were unheard, right? And it has been an outbreak, year in, year out. We have seen an outbreak with confirmed cases, confirmed deaths. And nobody took these calls serious ’til in 2022, where it became a global outbreak. And then, since then, it has been, “Oh, there’s nothing.” But in endemic regions, we still had those confirmed cases, and a lot of people also died from it.

And while it is now declared again a global health threat and a public health emergency of international concern, which is good, and I feel like it is timely, but at the same time, it is not timely, because does it have to be that other countries outside Africa are confirming cases before we seek this decision? When do we become proactive about it? So, currently in Nigeria, there has been — there’s nine cases which has been confirmed yesterday evening. And the Nigerian CDC has said that it is still trying to get 10,000 doses of the vaccine. But 10,000 doses is quite small for a large population that are at the threat of the outbreak. So, yeah —

AMY GOODMAN: So, let me ask you, Zubaida: Is the vaccine available for free? And who makes it? Why is it so difficult to get?

ZUBAIDA BABA IBRAHIM: So, yes, that is one of the questions I also have. The vaccine is manufactured by two people, two organizations that we know. And one is in Germany, and I think one is in the U.S. I’m not really sure. But there are two manufacturers of it. And it’s something that Africa could have weighed in — right? — and get the vaccines before the outbreak or before it became this big, or before it became this big in 2022.

So, currently the WHO has said — it’s like months ago — that there would be vaccines, but it is still not available. Yes, the vaccines are supposed to be free, so that everyone can get the jabs as soon as possible and for the prevention, but we still do not know what are the timelines to get these vaccines. I mean, even in DRC, where the virus is quite endemic and happens all year round every year, they still do not have access to the vaccine. And it’s a matter of, OK, does Africa — do African leaders partner with some local manufacturers to get these vaccines, or do we still wait? Do we still continue to be at the back of the queue for vaccine access?

AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to a clip from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which alone has reported more than 15,000 mpox cases and over 500 deaths, most of them among children under 15. Meanwhile, health officials are warning of the spread of mpox across crowded camps for displaced people. This is the mother of a 7-year-old child who contracted mpox in one of the displacement camps near Goma.

DENISE KAHINDO: [translated] My daughter Grace had caught the skin lesion disease. I took her to the hospital, where the doctors took good care of her and she recovered. And I don’t know how or by whom my child had been contaminated. I just watched helplessly as the symptoms appeared on her body.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Zubaida Baba Ibrahim, what are you calling for now?

ZUBAIDA BABA IBRAHIM: Well, yeah, I am calling for — first of all, we need to decolonize global health, where we’re not just waiting for vaccines from somewhere else to come to Africa. We need to, like, be proactive. And this is more of our issue, because this is endemic, like I said, in the west and central parts of Africa but is now spreading to more parts of Africa. So we need to wake up. Our African leaders need to wake up and realize that this is dire and it needs proactive measures.

I also want not just, like, the vaccine to be accessible, but for communities to know what mpox is. So, I feel like if it was the case of chickenpox or measles, a lot of parents or a lot of people in the community can identify that this is chickenpox, and these are the measures I can take. So, while we wait for the vaccines, these are things that we need to consider, empowering communities to know that, OK, this is the symptoms. So, like, the mother in DRC said she did not know who contacted — contracted her daughter. And these are some of the issues that we have, where people do not have access to knowledge on what is mpox, what are the different variants, this is what I do when the symptoms are manifesting in my households, and stuff like that. So, a lot of organizations are working on informing people and to curb misinformation, because with outbreaks, there are always misinformations. And so, that is one of the things we do here.

AMY GOODMAN: I’m looking at your article, Zubaida. You write, in 2022, the United States “built a stockpile of approximately 20 million doses of the Jynneos Vaccine, a dual-purpose smallpox and Mpox vaccine.” Your final comment? We just have 30 seconds.

ZUBAIDA BABA IBRAHIM: Oh, yeah. So, yeah, about the stockpile, I think if countries have stockpiles of this Jynneos vaccine, they should start administering it before it reaches their doorstep. So, this is like a proactive measure everyone can take. And then, the communities — sorry, countries can also build border managements, increase surveillance and, like I said, prevent, prevent, prevent.

AMY GOODMAN: Zubaida Baba Ibrahim, thank you so much for being with us, Nigerian journalist, sub-editor at Nigeria Health Watch. We’ll link to your new piece, “Mpox Vaccine: Africa’s Wait Continues Two Years After Global Outbreak.”

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