Abuja, Nigeria — As the incidence of monkeypox declines in Europe and parts of North America, many scientists believe it is time to focus eradicating the virus in Africa. In July, the U.N. health agency declared monkeypox a worldwide emergency and called to the international community for assistance in order to prevent a repeat of the catastrophic vaccine disparity that plagued the epidemic of COVID-19.
However, the global attention surge has had little effect on the region. No wealthy nations have shared vaccines or treatments with Africa, and some experts believe the continent’s enthusiasm may soon wane.
Placide Mbala, virologist and director of the global health research section at Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research, stated, “Nothing has changed for us here, the focus is on monkeypox in the West.”
“The nations in Africa where monkeypox is widespread continue to have inadequate resources for surveillance, diagnostics, and even patient treatment,” he explained.
Since the 1970s, monkeypox has infected people in parts of West and Central Africa, but public health experts did not consider using vaccines until the illness caused extraordinary outbreaks in Europe and North America. As wealthy nations hurried to purchase nearly all of the world’s supply of the most modern anti-monkeypox vaccine, the World Health Organization said in June that it would establish a vaccine-sharing mechanism to assist developing nations in acquiring doses.
So yet, this has not occurred.
“Africa has not yet benefited from either monkeypox vaccinations or antiviral medicines,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director, adding that only minimal quantities had been made available for research. Since 2000, Africa has annually reported between 1,000 and 2,000 probable cases of monkeypox. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified over 3,000 probable illnesses and over 100 deaths so far this year.
WHO reports that cases of monkeypox have decreased by more than a quarter worldwide and by more than half in Europe in recent weeks.
Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, director of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, compared the lack of assistance for Africa to the disparity witnessed during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Everyone took care of their (own) problem and abandoned everyone else,” he stated. Adetifa bemoaned that epidemics of monkeypox in Africa never received the worldwide attention that could have prevented the virus’s global expansion.
Rich nations have extended their vaccine supplies by utilizing one-fifth of the standard dose, but none have showed interest in assisting Africa. The WHO’s regional office for the Americas recently announced that 100,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine will be sent to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the coming weeks. However, no comparable agreements have been signed with Africa.
Dr. Dimie Ogoina, a professor of medicine at Nigeria’s Delta University and a member of the WHO’s monkeypox emergency committee, stated, “I would very much like to have vaccines to offer my patients or anything that may just decrease their hospital stay.”
Since the World Health Organization designated monkeypox a worldwide emergency, Nigeria has witnessed the spread of the disease with little significant interventions.
“We still lack the finances to conduct all of the necessary investigations,” Ogoina remarked.
According to Mbala of Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research, research on the animals that transmit monkeypox to humans in Africa is fragmented and lacks coordination.
The White House expressed optimism on the recent decline in monkeypox cases in the United States, stating that more than 460,000 doses of the Bavarian Nordic-manufactured vaccine had been administered.
A recent research by the advocacy group Public Citizen revealed that the United States has approximately 35% of the world’s more than 56,000 monkeypox cases, but over 80% of the world’s vaccine supply.
The United States has not disclosed any gifts of monkeypox vaccine for Africa, but the White House recently requested $600 million in worldwide aid from Congress.
Even if wealthy nations begin sharing monkeypox instruments with Africa in the near future, other specialists say they should not be congratulated.
Piero Olliaro, a professor of infectious diseases of poverty at Oxford, stated, “It should not be the case that countries only decide to provide surplus vaccines when the pandemic is reducing in their own country.” It’s the exact same scenario as COVID, and it’s still unethical.
Olliaro, who just returned to the United Kingdom after working on monkeypox in Central African Republic, stated that WHO’s emergency designation appeared to give “no practical benefits in Africa.”
In the Lagos state of Nigeria, which contains the country’s largest city and is severely affected by monkeypox, there are calls for the government to take immediate action.
Temitayo Lawal, a 29-year-old economist, stated, “You cannot tell me the situation would not have improved without the vaccine.”
“If there is no need for vaccines, why are the United States and all these other countries utilizing them?” he questioned. “Our government must also acquire doses.”