Africa CDC confident it can raise $600 million for mpox response
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) can raise $600 million to fight the surging mpox outbreak on the continent, the agency’s head said on Thursday. “If you want to know if I’m positive that we can raise the $600 million, I will safely say yes,” Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, told reporters.
In mid-August, after a new strain began spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighbouring countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared mpox a global health emergency.
Still, in August, Africa CDC put the estimated cost of the mpox response at $245 million and said that it had secured only about $20 million. Kaseya did not explain why the cost, which excludes the price of vaccines, had increased. He, however, said that funding could come from African Union countries, development partners, philanthropies and the private sector.
He stated that the international vaccine alliance GAVI had pledged assistance and Africa CDC was in discussions with The Pandemic Fund, a multilateral organisation that funds pandemic response. Kaseya added that a transfer of technology to the continent would reduce the price of vaccines by 80%-90%. Africa CDC reported last month that talks had started with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic BAVA.CO to manufacture its mpox vaccine in Africa. The Director General said this would help make the vaccine affordable for African countries.
Kaseya will announce the amount raised at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month. The continent has seen over 26,000 suspected mpox cases, including 724 deaths so far this year, Africa CDC data showed. In the DRC, children under 15 years account for about 60% of suspected cases and 80% of deaths this year, UNICEF said in a statement on Thursday.