The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is eagerly awaiting its first shipment of mpox vaccines, thanks to pledges from the United States and Japan. The Congolese Health Minister, Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba, announced on Monday that the vaccines should arrive by next week, following commitments from both nations to aid in combating the outbreak.
This announcement comes on the heels of the World Health Organization’s recent declaration of mpox as a global public health emergency for the second time in two years. The disease, which now includes a new variant known as clade Ib, has been spreading rapidly across Africa, prompting urgent action.
The DRC, like many African nations, has faced a glaring inequity in access to vaccines. While Europe and the United States had ready access to mpox vaccines during the 2022 global outbreak, African countries were left out in the cold. Now, with support from USAID and the U.S. government, there is hope that this imbalance will start to be addressed.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has also stepped up, announcing its plans to send vaccines and needles to the DRC. Masano Tsuzuki, from Japan’s division of infectious disease prevention, stated that Japan is committed to providing as much support as possible.
Japan-based KM Biologics, which manufactures one of the mpox vaccines, will be involved in this effort, along with Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic, which produces another variant known as Jynneos.
Despite these promising developments, neither vaccine has been available in the DRC or across Africa, where mpox has long been endemic. The global vaccine alliance Gavi has pledged up to $500 million to help deliver vaccines to countries grappling with Africa’s worsening mpox situation.
Mpox, which causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, can be deadly despite being generally mild. In the DRC, two strains are currently circulating: the endemic clade I and the newer clade Ib. Unlike airborne viruses such as COVID-19, mpox primarily spreads through close physical contact, including sexual contact.
As the world scrambles to tackle this emerging threat, the arrival of vaccines in the DRC represents a crucial step towards rectifying global health disparities and controlling the spread of mpox.
