Mpox outbreak: ‘The world has to learn a nasty lesson about vaccine readiness’
The mpox outbreak has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization.
The backs of the hands of a patient with mpox showing a characteristic rash during his recovery phase. Picture: BSIP via AFP
John Perlman speaks with Professor Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI and co-chair of South Africa’s Mpox Incident Management Team.
Listen to the interview in the audio below.
The mpox outbreak is sweeping through at least 16 countries in Africa.
Just over 15,000 cases have been confirmed in countries including Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, DRC, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya.
ALSO READ:
MPOX UPDATE: 'Transmission is low, but we must stay vigilant’ – Health Dept
Mpox: Health Department allays locals' fears amid infections growth on continent
In July, the South African Department of Health confirmed 24 mpox cases, and three deaths.
Rees says the disease is spread through direct contact, meaning it is less contagious than COVID-19.
However, she says we can learn a lot from the COVID-19 pandemic in how to respond to this outbreak.
“We look at what we learned from COVID, so we respond early and better to the Mpox outbreak.”
- Professor Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI
There are two recommended vaccines against mpox, but Rees says we have had issues getting access to them.
“The world has to learn a nasty lesson here which is that we need much more readiness and access to these vaccines for these outbreaks.”
- Professor Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.