MONROVIA, LIBERIA-The Director General of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, Dr. Jean Kaseya, has stressed the need for more budgetary support to tackle Mpox and other diseases on the continent.
Speaking during an Africa CDC weekly press briefing, Dr. Kaseya noted that eradicating Mpox will require a holistic and coordinated approach.
The Africa CDC Boss disclosed that currently Africa has received over one million doses of the Mpox vaccines, with eleven countries receiving the vaccines.
Out of eleven countries, seven nations were actively rolling out vaccines which include the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia, among others.
Dr. Kaseya further disclosed that Sierra Leone is reporting the highest number of cases in recent weeks, especially in West Africa, thus prompting the call for more vaccines to eradicate the disease on the Continent.
He said:” Sierra Leone alone accounts for fifty-eight-point-two percent of all confirmed cases in Africa, currently.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Incident Manager of Mpox at the Africa CDC, Dr. Yap Boum, emphasized the need for actionable steps in the procurement of vaccines to reach the target needed to control the outbreak in Africa.
He said,” There is a need to commit healthcare workers to work along with field epidemiologists in the collection of samples and data to strengthen the surveillance system in Africa.”
Dr. Boum noted that at least 6.4 million doses of the Mpox vaccines are needed between now and August 2025 to bring the outbreak under control, adding that the delay in procurement might prolong the crisis and potentially allow the emergence of a new variant.
By: Williametta Jabbah
