The World Health Organisation (WHO) has given the green light to Gavi and UNICEF to proceed with procurement of vaccines for prevention of outbreaks especially the Monkey-pox, pending the EUL decision
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO, Director-General said this on Wednesday in a statement.
“In the meantime, I have given the green light to Gavi and UNICEF to proceed with procurement of vaccines, pending the EUL decision.
“It’s vital to stress that although vaccines are a powerful tool, they are by no means the only tool.
“There are many other things that WHO, the Africa CDC and our partners are doing to stop outbreaks and save lives,” Ghebreyesus said.
According to him, for years, WHO has been supporting affected countries in Africa to respond to sporadic outbreaks of mpox.
WHO boss said that for years, the organisation had been calling for more research, and for the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for mpox.
“We see now it’s attracting the attention of the international community.
“As you know, two weeks ago today, I convened an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations, and on its advice, declared a public health emergency of international concern over the outbreaks of mpox in Africa,” he said.
Ghebreyesus said that such was the highest level of alarm under international health law.
“Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General, African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and I have spoken frequently to ensure our two organisations are working together closely to leverage our comparative advantages.
“And also to coordinate our work under one plan, with one budget, as Jean already indicated earlier,” he said.
According to him, he is proud to say that he actually proposed the idea of establishing the Africa CDC at the Abuja African Union Summit in July 2013, when I was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
“So I’m very glad to see how my daughter, the Africa CDC, has grown, and is now co-leading the response to mpox with WHO.
“Credit also to all Member States of the African Union for establishing the Africa CDC.
“On August 23, we shared our global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, to stop human-to-human transmission and bring these outbreaks under control.
“I’m confident that mpox can be stopped if we work in unison under the leadership of you, the governments.
“On August 23, we received the information we needed from the manufacturers of both vaccines to evaluate their products for Emergency Use Listing,” Ghebreyesus said.
According to him, the organisation expect to be able to issue that listing within the next three weeks.
He said that they were providing PCR machines and kits; supporting laboratories and scaling up their workforce
Others, he said, were training of health workers and supporting clinicians and working with local partners and civil society.
Ghebreyesus said that they are engaging affected communities in the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions.
“The last thing I would like to say is that the mpox outbreak is another reminder.
“If any were needed, of the critical need for a legally-binding international agreement to ensure a coordinated and equitable response to pandemics,” he said.
By Franca Ofili, NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA