Amidst the global health emergency declared for mpox, the South African president has called for a greater emphasis on an equitable distribution of healthcare interventions.

The World Health Organization (WHO), "must be different and correct the unfair treatment from the previous one [public health emergency] declared in 2022, where vaccines and therapeutics were developed and made available primarily to Western countries, with little support extended to Africa," said Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa in a 17 August statement on the recent mpox outbreak in Africa.

Ramaphosa called on the WHO to collaborate more closely with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to allow wider access to vaccines, while countries in the African Union (AU) to increase domestic resource allocation. The AU is a continental union consisting of 55 African member states. Thus far, the AU has granted $10.4m in emergency funds to support Africa CDC’s response to the outbreak.

Africa CDC declared a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) on 13 August, followed by an announcement from the World Health Organization (WHO) that announced mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 14 August.

Africa CDC has promised to deliver 10 million mpox vaccine doses by 2025, through a partnership with Bavarian Nordic. The Danish company shared that it already has the capacity to supply up to 2 million doses this year in a 16 August press release. Bavarian Nordic aims to meet manufacturing demand through the transfer of technology to selected manufacturers. The company has been stockpiling its mpox vaccine Jynneos (MVA-BN), which is also marketed as Imvamex and Imvamune, for a potential smallpox or mpox vaccine outbreak since 2022.

Africa CDC reports that at least 12 African countries have cited mpox outbreaks. As of 16 August, this has reached 17,541 cases and 517 deaths, mostly occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a 14 August response to the outbreak, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa said, “Significant efforts are already underway in close collaboration with communities and governments, with our country teams working on the frontlines to help reinforce measures to curb mpox. With the growing spread of the virus, we’re scaling up further through coordinated international action to support countries bring the outbreaks to an end.” The agency has also provided $1.45m from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies to try and curb the crisis. WHO added that more money may be released to support the situation in the coming days.

“I urge the international community, partners, and organisations to mobilise stockpiles of vaccines and other medical countermeasures for deployment in Africa, utilising the mechanisms established by Africa CDC to ensure equitable distribution, transparency, and coordination. Africa requires robust support in funding, research, and the sharing of technologies, with financial contributions directed to the Africa Epidemic Fund under the leadership of Africa CDC,” said Ramaphosa.