Wednesday, September 24, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About Time Africa Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » Health » What It’s Like to Respond to Mpox in Africa Right Now

What It’s Like to Respond to Mpox in Africa Right Now

By Dr. Jennifer Furin, Dr. Nesar Hamraz and Dr. Eddy Jonas

September 11, 2024
in Health
0
Dr. Robert Musole, medical director of the Kavumu hospital (right), consults an infant suffering from a severe form of mpox at the Kavumu hospital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 24, 2024. Glody Murhabazi—AFP/Getty Images

Dr. Robert Musole, medical director of the Kavumu hospital (right), consults an infant suffering from a severe form of mpox at the Kavumu hospital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 24, 2024. Glody Murhabazi—AFP/Getty Images

542
SHARES
4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

It was early morning in Burundi when one of our patients set out for the hospital, her baby strapped to her back and her sick four-year-old son cradled in her arms. When her little boy’s itchy sores started to weep and he would not stop crying, she knew she had to get him there as quickly as possible. They trekked for miles up a dusty red path, passing palm groves and rice fields as they made their way. When she finally arrived, the doctors told her they’d have to move her son to a separate building. “He has mpox,” they said.

Scenes like this are playing out daily all over Burundi—and in other Central African countries—as thousands of people are falling sick with a new strain of mpox that is ravaging the region. On Aug. 14, 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the multiple mpox outbreaks occurring on the African continent were a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Although mpox has been around for decades, a new strain known as clade Ib has led to thousands of infections and hundreds of deaths in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, and the Central African Republic.

The WHO declaration was meant to spur an international response. But what has this looked like on the ground? As doctors who have treated dozens of mpox patients in Burundi over the past four weeks, take it from us: the response has been passive at best. People are in desperate need of both medical care and basic resources.

The limited funding is largely being directed toward improving mpox diagnosis and surveillance. Almost nothing is left over to care for the sick or prevent the continued spread of mpox in communities most at risk. This is especially heartbreaking since this outbreak seems to preferentially strike vulnerable groups, including women, children, people with HIV, and those who face food insecurity. This gap in mpox prevention and care is especially acute in countries like Burundi, where the health system is already strained after decades of civil war and where diseases like cholera, measles, malaria, and malnutrition are all too common.

Health workers speak with patients inside a ward for women infected with Mpox at the Kamenge University Hospital's Mpox treatment center in Bujumbura, Burundi, on Aug. 22, 2024.
Health workers speak with patients inside a ward for women infected with mpox at the Kamenge University Hospital’s Mpox treatment center in Bujumbura, Burundi, on Aug. 22, 2024. Tchandrou Nitanga—AFP/Getty


ReadAlso

‘Unstoppable Africa’ 2025 Puts Africa on Global Growth

African Energy Week 2025: Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Energy Sector through Local Content and Workforce Development

One of our other patients came to the hospital with her newborn whom she was breastfeeding. She had walked for hours to reach us, seeking help for the numerous painful lesions that now covered most of her skin. She was diagnosed with mpox, and we recommended that she stop breastfeeding to avoid the skin-to-skin contact by which mpox spreads. Having no other way to nourish her child, she became distraught at being asked to choose between the baby going hungry or the baby developing mpox. There were no vaccines to protect the baby and no other resources available to provide a safe feeding alternative for this family.

This lack of care-focused resources for people with mpox is not a failure of science. Mpox is not a new disease, and there are vaccines and medications that can greatly alter its course. But these tools are not available in the hospitals and health centers that are tasked with caring for a growing number of people with mpox every day. A scant 250,000 courses of the only effective vaccine have been earmarked for DRC, when tens of millions of doses are actually needed to curb mpox’s spread. And smaller counties like Burundi have no access at all. By contrast, when one patient with the clade Ib strain was diagnosed in Sweden, the European Centers for Disease Control decided to recommend that travelers to Africa now consult their physicians about receiving shots.

ADVERTISEMENT

Governments in the region are trying valiantly to respond to the mpox crisis. In Burundi, the government has developed a comprehensive national plan for managing mpox. But they should not have to shoulder the burden alone—and these regions desperately need partners who can immediately step up and provide:

1. Dignified services to those already sick with mpox, including care in the community for people who are stable and at the hospital for those who have severe disease or who are at high risk for it. Such care would include access to proven strategies for decreasing the sickness and suffering associated with mpox, such as antivirals, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory eye drops to prevent the blindness sometimes seen when mpox affects the eye. It would also address the socioeconomic needs of families: hunger, housing, childcare, and management of common comorbidities, including HIV.

2. Localized, preventive care. This works best when it originates within the community and could include adapting standard health-education messaging so that it is relevant for those most at risk. Epidemics exploit fractures in society and can escalate pre-existing tensions. Mpox mitigation measures should be paired with activities meant to foster collaboration and address other community needs.

3. Immediate vaccination in places where the epidemic is concentrated. Because most impacted regions face challenges with overcrowding and limited access to water, other preventive measures will be less effective. Releasing existing vaccines for use in Central Africa and making sure they can be imported, stored, and administered safely should be a priority.

4. Investment in strengthening health systems, since infectious diseases will always prey upon people whose health is most precarious. Instead of providing the bare minimum necessary to respond to mpox, donors should see this outbreak as a call for backing solid and lasting investments in building resilient health systems.

Models of mpox care that embrace these pillars have been developed in countries like Burundi. When the first patients with mpox began appearing in the rural areas, our team at Village Health Works—an organization founded by a Burundian to provide high-quality health care to those with limited access—launched a holistic response program called Halting the Mpox Outbreak with Equity (HOME). We stand ready to support the government regionally and nationally but need to mobilize resources to do so effectively.

Dr. Robert Musole, medical director of the Kavumu hospital (right), consults an infant suffering from a severe form of mpox at the Kavumu hospital in Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 24, 2024.
Dr. Robert Musole, medical director of the Kavumu hospital (right), consults an infant suffering from a severe form of mpox at the Kavumu hospital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 24, 2024. Glody Murhabazi—AFP/Getty Images


There is a global sense of fatigue when it comes to outbreaks, and mpox is no exception. What is happening to families in Central Africa can seem very far away. People reaching for their smartphones or laptops to Google where countries like Burundi are located should realize, however, that they already have a connection to Central Africa. The minerals that power these technologies have been extracted from the area by companies that have reaped billions of dollars in profit. Very little of this capital has been reinvested for the betterment of people living there.

The weak mpox response on the ground shows that governments and their international collaborations are impotent in the face of an outbreak like this. And really, it shouldn’t just be their responsibility: companies that get rich by taking materials out of this region of the world should have to reinvest in building sustainable health systems.

We are used to hearing the word “outbreak” in conjunction with the spread of an infectious disease. But an alternative meaning of the term is “a sudden increase in activity.” We urgently need an outbreak of solidarity and resource mobilization to end mpox in Central Africa.


Dr. Jennifer Furin is an infectious disease physician and lecturer at Harvard Medical School with more than 30 years of experience responding to global outbreaks.

Dr. Nesar Hamraz is an infectious disease specialist from Afghanistan and medical director at Village Health Works in Kigutu, Burundi.

Dr. Eddy Jonas is an ob-gyn and chief medical officer at Village Health Works in Kigutu, Burundi.

Tags: AfricaHealthMpox
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

India’s Supreme Court Orders Striking Doctors to Return to Work

Next Post

Breakthroughs in Kidney Cancer Research Excite Doctors

You MayAlso Like

A patient suffering from Mpox AFP/Getty
Health

How Mpox revealed an epidemic of untreated HIV in Sierra Leone

September 20, 2025
Health

$10 million contraceptive bound for Africa destroyed

September 13, 2025
Health

Mpox no longer international health emergency but remains concern in Africa

September 8, 2025
Health

Ebola Outbreak Is Declared in Province of Congo

September 8, 2025
Health

New prostate cancer exam could lead to targeted screening

August 25, 2025
A Sudanese man who testified to selling a kidney to traffickers in 2017. Oliver Weiken/picture alliance via Getty Images
Health

Kidneys for cash: Inside a global organ trafficking network

August 20, 2025
Next Post
kidney-stock

Breakthroughs in Kidney Cancer Research Excite Doctors

protesting-indian-doctors

Doctors in India defy court order, continue a weeks-long strike

Discussion about this post

Leaked Documents Reveal How Fr. Edwin Obiora Exploited Legal Instruments to Manipulate Late Msgr. Prof. John Bosco Akam

How Gen Z Protestors Chose Nepal’s First Woman Prime Minister On Discord

Can sex really stretch out your vagina? Gynecologists set the record straight

“Go to Hell With the Bishop”: Catholic Priest Sparks Outrage After Disrupting Mass in Aba

Tansian University Founders Must Rise or Lose It Forever

Six beers that are good for your gut health – and the ones to avoid

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1241 shares
    Share 496 Tweet 310
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1067 shares
    Share 427 Tweet 267
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    972 shares
    Share 389 Tweet 243
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    904 shares
    Share 361 Tweet 226
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    735 shares
    Share 294 Tweet 184
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0

KingMakers Company Endorses Enugu Tech Festival 2026

September 24, 2025

Tansian University Founders Must Rise or Lose It Forever

September 23, 2025

Trump the Useful Idiot

September 22, 2025
4.Young leaders trained by We Can program designed and delivered 17 projects across schools and communities

Award-winning Chill Lab youth mental health program impacted 146,000+ lives in two years with latest “We Can” student-led projects benefiting 17,000+ people

September 22, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIME AFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIME AFRICA biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About Time Africa Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.