EU To Send Mpox Vaccines To Africa As WHO Meets

BRUSSELS, Aug 14 (Bernama-dpa) -- The European Union (EU) will send the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (AfricaCDC) 175,420 doses of vaccines to prevent mpox – previously known as monkeypox – the European Commission announced on Wednesday, reported German news agency (dpa).  

The AfricaCDC declared mpox to be a continent-wide public health emergency on Tuesday, and asked for international help in achieving its target of providing two million vaccines. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says mpox is a viral disease that causes a blistering rash. It is spread by physical contact with infected people or animals, as well as contaminated materials. Most patients fully recover.

The WHO in Geneva convened its Emergency Committee to discuss the outbreak on Tuesday. The deliberations on whether a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) should be declared are still under way.

The commission said in a statement that it would supply the vaccines via its Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). Pharmaceutical firm Bavarian Nordic, which manufactures the vaccine, will donate 40,000 doses to HERA, the statement said.

According to the commission, Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) is approved for use in at-risk adults by the EU, the United Kingdom and the United States, among others. 

However, only two African countries have approved it so far. Last week, the WHO asked Bavarian Nordic to seek Emergency Use Listing to speed up the process of making it available in the affected countries.

-- BERNAMA-dpa