-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email This article originally appeared on Undark. A larm bells should be blaring about the growing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where community organizations best positioned to prevent a wider outbreak or pandemic report a lack of funding and shortage of basic supplies. It was only in early October that limited quantities of vaccines reached some impacted communities.
But health care and other frontline workers remain unprotected and under-resourced. It’s as if the world had not just experienced a major pandemic, during which we painfully learned that a faster and more robust investment in early action and preventive measures could have slowed transmission and saved countless lives. Related The mpox outbreak in Africa was neglected – now it could turn into the next global pandemic In August, the World Health Organization declared mpox a “public health emergency of international concern.
” To date, there have been more than 100,000 documented cases across 123 countries. The numbers are likely higher due to limited testing and health care access for those impacted. In response, in September the White House announced a $500 million commitment to support African countries’ efforts to respond to and contain the disease.
As cases continue to mount, the human and financial costs increase. For example, in August, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that $245 million was needed to respond .