Africa Unites to Combat Mpox Outbreak
The Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is taking a bold step to combat the Mpox outbreak by developing a Continental Response Plan. The plan aims to guide the response to the outbreak in African countries and will combine the response plans developed by the 13 countries that have recorded suspected and confirmed cases of Mpox.
According to Jean Kaseya, the Africa CDC Director-General, the plan has two major components. The first component is the individual response plan of African countries affected by the outbreak, while the second component focuses on the response plan obtained from partners providing technical support. These partners, including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the World Food Program (WFP), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), play a crucial role in responding to the outbreak.
The Continental Response Plan will also provide an avenue for the public agency to review the quality of the response plan developed by each country and support the development of a better plan. This will help identify the needs of each country and the quality of the plan developed by each country.
The plan is expected to be finalized by Wednesday, and a draft will be submitted to relevant groups, including the Emergency Response Consultancy Group, for their input. Once the input is received, the plan will be presented during the governing board meeting of Africa CDC to validate the plan.
The Africa CDC has also secured 215,000 IMVANEX vaccine doses from Bavarian Nordic and expects an additional 100,000 vaccine doses from France. The agency has at least 380,000 doses of vaccines that will be distributed amongst affected African countries. The agency plans to use a $10.4 million grant provided by the Africa Union Committee to distribute and administer the Mpox vaccine across the continent.
The development of the Continental Response Plan is a significant step in the fight against the Mpox outbreak in Africa. The plan will help build capacity for vaccine production on the continent and demonstrate the continent’s commitment to combating the outbreak.
