Africa’s battle to contain a year-old mpox outbreak is being undermined by funding shortfalls and limited vaccine supplies, the World Health Organization warned Thursday.
Since the WHO declared the disease a global health emergency in August 2024, 28 countries on the continent have reported some 174,000 suspected cases and nearly 50,000 confirmed infections, leading to around 240 deaths.
The UN health agency said other obstacles include competing health emergencies, stigma that discourages people from seeking care and poor access to health services.
Only about three million vaccine doses have reached Africa so far – less than half the target – with 951,000 administered and some 900,000 people receiving at least one dose, WHO’s regional office said.
Still, there are signs of progress: weekly confirmed cases have fallen by more than a third over the past six weeks, and countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Gabon, Mauritius and Zimbabwe have reported weeks without new infections.
WHO set out a six-month plan to expand community surveillance, deliver supplies to hotspots, integrate mpox control into broader health programmes and step up targeted vaccination – but said more donor support was needed to meet those goals.