There have been 1,900 confirmed cases of monkeypox across the world in 39 countries. Eight of those countries are in Africa.
Any vaccination campaign against monkeypox should “begin in Africa,” the acting head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
on Thursday, as worries grow wealthy countries will repeat missteps of the Covid-19 pandemic and ignore the continent in a rush to secure scarce supplies.AFP via Getty ImagesCountries in the continent hardest-hit by the disease have not received any monkeypox vaccines despite seeing more infectionse, higher risks and broader geographical spread than elsewhere, said acting director of Africa CDC Ahmed Ogwell Ouma.
Ouma stressed that vaccines must be shared and warned that the outbreak in Africa is “not yet contained.” He cautioned against repeating the situation African countries faced during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the continent was unable to secure life saving vaccines as wealthy countries snapped up supplies.
Ouma said there have been 1,597 suspected cases of monkeypox recorded across Africa this year, 66 of which have been fatal.infections have been confirmed in nine different countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Morocco, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.The World Health Organization’s response. Ouma said the Africa CDC was working with the WHO to secure vaccines used to tackle monkeypox.