With over 21,000 confirmed and suspected cases in 2023—out of 25,093 cases in Africa—the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that Congo is presently experiencing a major mpox outbreak. For many years, the Congo has been home to endemic mpox, sometimes known as monkeypox, which mostly affects the eastern districts of the country. This zoonotic virus disease can cause fever, skin lesions, and in severe cases, even death. It is transmitted from animals to humans. More than 720 individuals have died from mpox this year, most of them in the Congo.
A recently discovered, perhaps more contagious form of mpox was found in South Kivu, an eastern province that had not previously seen the illness, in September 2023. This new strain has quickly spread to North Kivu, a neighboring region already troubled by fighting, displaced people, and shoddy healthcare infrastructure. More than 120 armed groups have caused unrest in the eastern Congo, which has resulted in over 6 million people being displaced and major obstacles to accessing healthcare.
The region’s medical staff is overburdened. Medical director of Kavumu Hospital Dr. Musole Mulambamunva mentioned that their facilities frequently handle four times as many patients as they can accommodate. The severity of mpox cases has escalated because to restricted access to basic sanitary supplies like soap and clean water. The inaccessibility of numerous regions owing to conflict and inadequate infrastructure exacerbates the challenge of managing the outbreak.
The United States and the European Union have sent about 250,000 doses of the mpox vaccine to Congo in response to the outbreak. But according to government estimates, 3 million doses are required to effectively stop the spread. There is minimal information about the vaccine’s safety for children, and it is only authorized for adult use. Health workers in the area are requesting more training as well as more important medications because supplies are running low.
Critics have drawn attention to the tardiness of the worldwide reaction to this outbreak in contrast to other global health crises such as COVID-19 and Ebola. The belief that mpox is a tropical illness that mostly affects Africa is to blame for the lack of thorough research and international interest, according to infectious disease expert Professor Ali Bulabula. Health experts caution that if action is not taken quickly, the mpox problem may grow as awareness campaigns and immunization efforts fall behind. In order to stop the outbreak within six months, WHO has called for better leadership and collaboration; nonetheless, there are still substantial obstacles to overcome.
SOURCE :
ECONOMIC TIMES
