Africa to secure nearly a million mpox vaccines: health watchdog / Photo: Glody MURHABAZI - AFP
-
Dangote to launch $16bn refinery in Kenya
-
Nagoya mayor says sorry for Asian Games 'inconveniences'
-
North Korean leader 'extremely obese': Seoul spy agency
-
G20 trade officials meet under shadow of tariffs, overcapacity
-
Yankees and pope-backed White Sox start MLB playoffs with wins
-
India's fat dog vote goes viral
-
Malaysia's ex-PM Mahathir in hospital for observation
-
Asian Games crowds in spotlight as 998 see hosts in 50,000 stadium
-
'No limits': Marathon world record holder Sawe chasing history
-
The eight stadiums for the 2027 Rugby World Cup
-
Countdown begins to biggest-ever Rugby World Cup
-
Thieves swipe drugs under nose of Fiji police, swap with flour
-
Bangladesh women lose ground after quota reform
-
South Korea demands North apologise for DMZ mine blasts
-
Vietnam admits 'differing opinions' on Hanoi development
-
In Nepal's flood zone, teachers mourn students who never returned
-
Stocks temper gains as oil pares heavy losses, US data in focus
-
US Supreme Court lifts limits on third-country deportations
-
New Zealand denies breaching climate commitments to EU
-
Antonelli eager to 're-establish order' as F1 returns to Malaysia
-
Albert becomes youngest US scorer in 4-2 win over Chile
-
Paw-fect candidate: Australia finds new koala rescue dog
-
Pirate island's plunging population shows Greece's demographic decline
-
One third of world population exposed to harmful air pollution: monitor
-
With elections ahead, Latvia's Russian-speakers reject Moscow's help
-
North Korea denies South's claim it was apparently behind DMZ mine blasts
-
Brazil football clubs face massive sponsorship blow from betting ban
-
West Bank's violent settlers part of a new generation fuelled by ideology
-
ChatGPT maker wants to be the App Store for AI as safety concerns grow
-
US-led coalition ends mission in Iraq
-
Women fight fires and sexism in Indonesian Borneo
-
Pope-backed White Sox join Braves with MLB playoff wins
-
Forsling's OT blast lifts Florida over Carolina in NHL opener
-
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - September 30
-
Alpha Growth Management Opens Rep Office in Japan
-
Guardian Metal Resources PLC Announces Total Voting Rights
-
NBA close to picking new $12-13bn Vegas team owners: report
-
Hurricane Polo sweeps over Mexico's Pacific coast, heads inland
-
LA28 Olympics torch relay to visit all 50 states
-
Grynspan pulls ahead in race to lead UN: diplomat
-
Spain brush aside Croatia in Nations League, England down Czechs
-
Trump touts AI boss pledge to self-regulate
-
Trump hails 'morally binding' AI self-regulation pledge
-
Oil down, but stocks lower as bond yields rise
-
Yamal inspires Spain to Croatia romp on World Cup homecoming
-
England break down stubborn Czechs to claim first Nations League win
-
UN to hold fourth informal poll of secretary-general candidates
-
UN Security Council extends Haiti anti-gang force by 6 months
-
Who are the Emiratis behind crisis-hit Manchester City?
-
Manchester City guilty of Premier League charges: What comes next?
Africa to secure nearly a million mpox vaccines: health watchdog
The African Union's health watchdog on Wednesday said it was close to securing almost one million mpox vaccine doses, urging manufacturers to share the vaccine-making technology to battle the disease.
Africa is on the front line of the fight against mpox, with the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring an international emergency earlier this month over the viral disease's spread.
"We are moving towards securing nearly a million doses," of mpox vaccines, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Jean Kaseya told a WHO regional meeting in Congo-Brazzaville.
Several countries have promised to send vaccines to African countries hit by outbreaks, with Spain alone pledging 500,000 doses.
Kaseya said 215,000 vaccine doses had already been "secured" from Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic, but urged it to share the know-how needed for the vaccines to be made locally.
"We told Bavarian Nordic that we need a transfer of technology towards African manufacturers," he said, adding that he believed mpox vaccines would be made in Africa "very soon".
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is a viral disease transmitted from animals to humans that can also be passed from human to human, causing fever, muscle pain and skin lesions.
Its resurgence and the detection in Central Africa of a new strain, dubbed Clade 1b, prompted the WHO to declare its highest international alert level on August 14.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, where the new strain was first detected, has borne the brunt of the epidemic with 90 percent of 2024's reported mpox cases, according to the WHO.
Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have also been affected.
Kaseya said that there were 22,863 suspected cases and 622 deaths as of August 27 linked to the various mpox strains on the continent.
The director-general was reticent to give details about confirmed cases as "we still have countries with a testing rate of less than 30 percent and we still have countries facing a number of challenges in terms of quality and transport".
According to the WHO, Africa had 5,281 confirmed cases of mpox from the beginning of 2024 up till August 25.
W.Stewart--AT
