Monkeypox: Africa May Face Another Vaccine Apartheid, Says AHF

Global non-profit organisation, Aids Health Foundation (AHF) has said that Africa may face another vaccine apartheid in the fight against monkeypox as evidenced by the global response to the now endemic disease.

The foundation noted that the outbreak of Coronavirus exposed glaring flaws in the world’s collective ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, saying “We are seemingly back to the old ways. The world may once again lose a chance to control a pandemic.”

AHF Nigeria country programme director, Echey Ijezie, in a press release yesterday, said this year, there had been dozens of monkeypox cases in Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic (CAR), with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reporting the highest number of infections with over 2,938 cases and 110 deaths.

“The zoonotic viral disease, which is already endemic in 10 countries in West and Central Africa, only drew the world’s attention after affecting people in rich countries in the Global North. Even after the disruption caused by Covid-19, wealthy countries’ self-destructive unwillingness to cooperate for the benefit of the entire global population is evident again.

“African health officials still face the challenge of undercounting due to limited surveillance and testing capacity, which explains the vast discrepancy between confirmed and suspected cases. Additionally, the absence of vaccines for front-line health care workers and laboratory technicians in affected countries puts them in imminent danger.

Ijezie, however, noted that wealthy nations still held stockpiles of smallpox vaccines, which had been used in the UK, US, France, and Canada to protect people who had come in close contact with monkeypox patients, but few lower-income countries had vaccine access.