• Source:JND
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As Mpox cases continue to rise globally, the World Health Organization announced on Friday that its partners, including Gavi and UNICEF, are authorised to begin purchasing mpox vaccines before receiving official approval from the WHO. This move aims to accelerate vaccine delivery to Africa, which is experiencing a worsening outbreak of the virus.

This measure aims to expedite vaccine distribution to Africa, which is facing a growing outbreak of the virus. Normally, organizations like Gavi, which supports vaccine procurement for lower-income countries, must wait for WHO approval before making purchases. However, due to the urgency, this requirement has been relaxed temporarily, as WHO approval is anticipated in a few weeks.

Two vaccines, produced by Denmark's Bavarian Nordic and Japan's KM Biologics, are already approved by global regulators and have been widely used since 2022.

Bavarian Nordic's vaccine alone has been administered to approximately 1.2 million people in the US. 

WHO is expected to issue an emergency license for these vaccines in September. Mpox, a viral infection that spreads through close contact and can be fatal, was recently declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO due to a new variant spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other areas.

Thailand recently reported Asia's first confirmed case of a new, more dangerous strain of Mpox in a patient who had travelled from Africa. Mpox cases and fatalities are majorly escalating in Africa, with outbreaks having been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda since July.

Difficult To Prevent Mpox From Entering India

"The way the virus is spreading to different countries, it is not easy to stop it from getting into any country, including India, due to high global mobility,” said Raman Gangakhedkar, former scientist and national chair at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

India’s health ministry is preparing an updated advisory and guidelines on Mpox, following the World Health Organization's recent declaration of a global emergency due to a more lethal strain of the virus spreading to additional countries.

The revised alert, incorporating recommendations from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), will address several key areas: identifying symptomatic patients at entry points, isolating suspected and confirmed cases, conducting laboratory tests, detailing symptoms and prevention methods, reporting cases to hospitals, implementing surveillance strategies, raising community awareness, and enforcing hospital infection control measures. 

An official indicated that the ministry may release the updated advisory to the public soon.