Mpox, also known as monkeypox, was this week declared a continent-wide public health emergency by the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also declared it a public health emergency of international concern.
Mpox, a highly contagious disease, is transmitted through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact and talking or breathing close to another person, causing flu-like symptoms and skin lesions.
Since the start of the year, there have been more than 13,700 cases of mpox in the DR Congo, with at least 450 deaths. It has since spread to Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Rwanda.
It is hoped the declaration of mpox as a public health emergency will lead to research, funding, and the introduction of other international public health measures being accelerated.
Alas, how many times does Africa have to sound the alarm to the entire world before realising that our lives are our own affairs? Let's face it, we need to get our house in order. We cannot keep calling on the world to save us from diseases that we know we can deal with.
Besides mpox, Africa has had a taste of many disease outbreaks and pandemics such as smallpox, cholera, Ebola, measles, polio, and most recently Covid-19. These experiences should have taught us that we need to seriously own our affairs.
Although mpox has been declared a public health concern, Africa will have to wait longer before the rest of the world can have mercy for us to access necessary treatment, later alone much-needed vaccines.
For a continent that has lost hundreds of lives to the Covid-19 and millions of lives to other previous disease outbreaks, we cannot afford to continue watching this happening. We must act now and with urgency.
Mpox's continued spread across Africa sends a message that we need to invest in building resilience for our health systems.
Countries must deliberately invest in expanding access to healthcare services, co-invest in manufacturing of basic therapeutics and vaccines, and dedicate funds to public health and medical research.
