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By Ezekiel David
Africa is facing a significant funding shortfall in its efforts to combat the escalating mpox outbreak, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The continent requires an estimated $245 million to effectively address the crisis but has secured less than 10% of that amount. “We’ve come to the first estimate of $245 million,” stated Africa CDC Chief of Staff Ngashi Ngongo at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and the African Union have committed $10 million and $10.4 million, respectively. This leaves a funding gap of approximately $224 million.
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The WHO declared mpox a global health emergency in August due to the rapid spread of a new strain originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Director General of the Africa CDC Jean Kaseya reported success in obtaining doses of the mpox vaccine amounting to about one million, obtained from a number of sources, including Bavarian Nordic, France, Germany, and Spain. A delivery schedule for vaccines to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the region most impacted, is still unknown.
(Source: Reuters)
