The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the epicenter of a global health emergency, on Thursday, received its first batch of 99,000 vaccines to combat the virus following the growing mpox outbreak.
An additional 101,000 doses is expected to arrive on Saturday, as confirmed by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who emphasized WHO’s support in ensuring proper cold chain storage for the vaccines.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has taken a devastating toll on Congo, which accounts for 90% of global cases.
Reports indicated that more than 655 deaths have been attributed to the virus, and there are approximately 20,000 suspected cases, although the true number is believed to be higher due to the difficulty in accessing remote regions of the vast nation.
THE WHISTLER reports that a lack of diagnostic materials and basic medicines to treat the virus, which can improve survival rates, have also hampered efforts to contain the outbreak.
Congolese health officials told CBS news that they hope to start vaccinating frontline health workers and close contacts of confirmed cases by October.
The officials in Congo noted that the logistical challenges of distributing the vaccines across the country — which is the size of Western Europe and home to 100 million people, where a fragile, under-resourced health care system is also burdened by stigma associated with the virus.
It was stated that the vaccines must be stored at temperatures of minus -130 degrees Fahrenheit, which has complicated the rollout in a country where the healthcare infrastructure is already under strain.
Also, the logistical hurdles, Congo’s healthcare system has been overwhelmed by the outbreak. Hospitals in the hardest-hit areas have reported shortages of medicine and basic supplies, with patients often treated in makeshift isolation wards.
Greg Ramm, Congo Country Director for Save the Children, expressed frustration over the lack of global attention on the crisis, noting that mpox cases are still rising rapidly.
The outbreak has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations, particularly children, as over 600 children have died from mpox this year alone, with young people susceptible due to the prevalence of other diseases such as malaria and measles.
Schools in the country, which recently reopened, allegedly lack basic sanitation measures like running water and soap, increasing the risk of further transmission.
With the rainy season approaching, healthcare workers are concerned that the situation in the densely populated internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Eastern Congo could deteriorate.
The camps, which home to nearly 1 million people, are already grappling with poor hygiene and a lack of clean water, which makes them hotspots for infectious diseases like cholera and measles.
Meanwhile the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi allocated $10 million to support the response to the outbreak.
Experts said the country will need millions more vaccines to stem the virus’s spread, while noting that for now, the priority is getting the initial doses to health workers and those in close contact with infected individuals, but the road ahead is daunting.
Health workers are scared the virus could soon hit major urban centers like the capital, Kinshasa, home to 15 million people, with growing concern about the potential for the virus to mutate further and spread beyond Congo’s borders.
Mpox was discovered in Denmark in 1958 in research monkeys and named monkeypox. Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in Congo, then known as Zaire, and cases have surged in recent years.
Reports indicated that 90% of the total mpox cases in the world are in Congo, where people are testing positive for both the newer Clade 1b and the Clade 1a strains. The Clade 1b strain was first detected in the country in September 2023 and has recently been detected in 13 African nations.
Congo Receives First Mpox Vaccine Delivery Amid Ongoing Health Crisis is first published on The Whistler Newspaper