Africa has secured less than 10% of the estimated $245 million needed to combat a growing outbreak of measles on the continent, a senior official at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Wednesday (28).
The continent is under pressure to contain an outbreak of the potentially deadly infection that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency in mid-August after a new strain began spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries.
Africa CDC has developed a budget to determine how much money is available for the mpox response and the resources it needs to mobilize.
“We have arrived at the first estimate of $245 million,” Africa CDC chief of staff Ngashi Ngongo told a WHO briefing in the Republic of Congo capital Brazzaville.
The Democratic Republic of Congo government has pledged $10 million to support the fight against the outbreak, and the African Union has approved $10.4 million, Ngongo said.
Therefore, about $20 million is currently available for the response, he said, adding that those numbers will be updated.
“The gap right now is about $224 million, which we are looking for,” he said.
Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC, said during the meeting that the organization was on track to secure nearly 1 million doses of the measles vaccine.
This includes 215,000 doses from vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic, 100,000 doses from France, nearly 100,000 doses from Germany and about 500,000 doses from Spain.
There is still no forecast for when the vaccines will be able to reach the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country most affected by the virus.
Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can be fatal.
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This content was originally published in Response to mpox has less than 10% of necessary funding, says African center on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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