In November, the World Health Organization reported that mpox, also known as monkeypox, was being spread via sex in Congo for the first time.
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — As Congo copes with its biggest outbreak of mpox, scientists warn discrimination against gay and bisexual men on the continent could make it worse.
In November, the World Health Organization reported that mpox, also known as monkeypox, was being spread via sex in
There’s no licensed vaccine in Congo, and it would be hard to get enough shots for any large-scale program, Muyemba said. The country is trying to get a Japanese mpox vaccine, but regulatory issues are complicating the situation, he said.
Globally, only one vaccine has been authorized against mpox, made by Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic. Supplies are very limited and even if they were available, they would have to be approved by the African countries using them or by WHO. To date, the vaccine has only been available in Congo through research.
Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virus expert who sits on several WHO advisory boards, said African governments probably have too many competing priorities to ask the U.N. health agency or donors for help securing vaccines.
“In Africa, mpox is most likely considered a low-priority nuisance,” Tomori said.
He said stronger monitoring, laboratory networks and better availability of diagnostic supplies would be more helpful to the continent than vaccines.
Without greater efforts to stop the outbreaks in Africa, Ogoina predicted that mpox would continue to infect new populations, warning that the disease could also spark outbreaks in other countries, similar to the global emergency WHO declared last year.
“When the HIV pandemic started, it was among gay and bisexual men in the global north, and Africa thought it was not our problem,” he said. “Before we knew it, it came to Africa, but we still thought heterosexual populations would be protected.”
Women of reproductive age now account for more than 60% of new HIV infections in Africa.
“I worry the same thing will now happen with mpox,” he said. “Unless we address these outbreaks in Africa, this virus will keep coming back.”
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