MPOX

by Eduardo del Buey

MPOX

On August 14^th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency.

This is the highest level of alarm under international health law.

In making the announcement. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “the detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox … and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying. The emergency committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice.”

“It was unanimous that the current outbreak of mpox, upsurge of mpox, is an extraordinary event,” committee Chair Dimie Ogoina said. “What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg. … We are not recognizing, or we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of mpox.”

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to the WHO.  In other words, they may well be unsure as they were with COVID when they said it would spread via surface contamination which was false. Symptoms include a fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.

But is it deadly like COVID? Who is most vulnerable? These are vital questions if governments are to foist mandatory vaccines on citizens many of whom are already negatively disposed after the COVID campaign earlier in the decade.

According to Tim Nguyen, of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, there are half a million vaccines in stock, and another 2.5 million could be produced by year’s end. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria will be the first to receive these vaccines, African Regional Emergency Director Dr. Abdou Salam Gueye added.

The main question on my mind is whether leaders and citizens have learned any lessons from the COVID pandemic.

The fact that the WHO is taking an early lead is encouraging and provides the international community with lead time to prepare strategies and programs that can mitigate the impact of the outbreak.

The fact that countries are ramping up production of the vaccine before this becomes an actual pandemic is also encouraging.

Importantly, the fact that governments are sending the vaccine to Africa – the source of the virus – rather than appearing to horde it facilitates attacking the virus at source that can cut down the threat of mass contagion from cross border travel and the possibility for rapid global transmission of the virus. Restricting travel and entry from those countries that have had an outbreak of the virus should also be implemented immediately as this should have been a lesson learned from the early days of COVID.

There are three fundamental issues that remain to be addressed.

Can governments see this as a global problem requiring a united global response rather than 194 national problems each competing for resources and espousing contradictory policies where global imperatives override the national impact on special interest groups of the possible pandemic?

Given the massive anti-vaccine movement that arose during COVID that has become a major political problem in many countries, can governments devise plans to address the concerns of citizens to reduce resistance and limit transmission. There will be no need for a massive global vaccination program if the contagion is blocked at its source.

Can governments create programs that reduce the restraint in mobility and business activity that cost the global economy billions and created havoc in the workplace and nearly destroyed the travel industry?

How governments and citizens have learned and applied the lessons from COVID will determine the effectiveness of any global strategy that emerges to deal with this possible pandemic.