Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
I wish a good morning, good afternoon, bonjour and welcome to all the journalists joining this press conference.
Today we will devote most of our time to the evolution of the monkeypox situation on our continent, while also touching on the latest trends in COVID-19 cases and vaccination in the African Region.
I am pleased to be joined by a colleague, friend and brother, leading virologist Professor Oyewale Tomori, also past president of the Nigerian Academy of Science and a former vice-chancellor of Redeemer’s University in Ede. Professor Tomori is also credited with playing a very important role in helping spearhead Nigeria’s successful elimination of polio in 2020.
We are also joined by Professor Justin Masumu, the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the National Pedagogical University, DRC.
So, a warm welcome both to Professor Tomori and Professor Masumu, and thank you to my colleagues who are also joining this press conference.
Currently, the cumulative number of suspected monkeypox cases in Africa since the start of 2022 is 1821, with 109 of these confirmed cases in nine countries.
So, importantly, while we are seeing cases in Ghana, South Africa and Morocco for the first time, the biggest burden is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, which together account for 92% of all suspected cases. And I have to say that the DRC accounts for the majority of these cases – both suspected and confirmed.
Five of the 13 African Region countries that have reported cases of monkeypox, either confirmed or suspected, have also recorded a total of 73 apparently associated deaths.
The case of the DRC illustrates the complexity of the statistical and the testing challenge.
That country has recorded almost 90%, that is 65, of the deaths. But with only 10 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox to date, the majority of deaths cannot be confirmed as being due to the virus at this time.
The absence of confirmation of monkeypox as the cause of death, combined with the high percentage of suspected cases in affected some countries, underlines the urgent need for increased diagnostic capacity across Africa.
Additionally, the spread of cases beyond the six African countries where monkeypox has previously been recorded is clearly of concern.
According to the latest available information, it appears that the two cases in South Africa, for example are not linked to any history of travel. This is a concern because South Africa is geographically distant from countries with a history of monkeypox transmission.
You will be aware by now that the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus concurred with the advice of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on monkeypox, which last week deemed that monkeypox does not yet constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) at this time.
However, we are aware that tracking the spread of the virus remains critical, and WHO is deploying expert assistance to strengthen surveillance, and improve the overall response.
So, we are keeping a very close eye on this situation at the global level in order to determine if and when would be the right time to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Currently, all African countries have the polymerase chain reaction equipment needed to test for monkeypox, thanks to reinforced laboratory capacity in the wake of COVID-19.
However, many still lack the essential reagents and, in some cases, the necessary training in specimen collection, handling and testing, for the local experts concerned to do so.
In WHO, we are working to procure 60 000 tests, from which 2000 will be dispatched to each high-risk country, and up to 1000 tests to countries with reduced risk.
Over the past month, five more African countries have received donations of reagents from partners, bringing to 12 the number with enhanced monkeypox diagnostic capacity, and another group of countries in West Africa will receive reagents after participating in the necessary training.
To improve understanding of how the virus is spreading across countries and continents, WHO is also supporting countries to capitalise on the improved genomic sequencing capacity built during the COVID-19 pandemic, to sequence the monkeypox virus.
At the moment, seven countries can do this, and we have reports from South Africa and Nigeria that a total of 300 samples have been sequenced since the beginning of the year. The majority of these showed the West African clade of the virus.
To accelerate this capacity, we will provide training in monkeypox genome sequencing to lab experts from an initial 20 countries in the coming weeks.
On the question of vaccines and antivirals, given their limited availability, WHO recommends targeted vaccination for those who have been exposed, or who are at high risk – rather than mass vaccination.
This includes health workers, laboratory staff dealing with orthopoxviruses, outbreak team responders, and of course close contacts of cases and suspected cases.
We are however, also in discussions with vaccine manufacturers and with countries with vaccine stocks, on how to best collaborate to share both knowledge and these resources.
We would like to see this global spotlight on monkeypox act as a catalyst to beat this disease once and for all in Africa. To achieve this, we know that vaccines are a key tool.
I’d like to stress again that this is an evolving situation and commit to keeping you all fully updated as we learn more.
Turning now to the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of June 2022 marks a 16-month milestone in the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination in the African Region. As such, it is a good time to consider how far we have come.
Through the efforts of the COVAX platform and other partners, more than 820 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to the continent in a little over a year - 62% by and through COVAX, 30% through bilateral donations or purchase, and 8% by the African Union and other sources.
Despite their late arrival in Africa, and massively unequal supply chains, many countries have achieved commendable levels of coverage, with nearly half of all health workers, and people aged 60 years and older, now fully vaccinated in 31 African countries.
Two WHO Africa Region countries - Mauritius and Seychelles - have also achieved the ambitious 70% overall coverage target set by WHO. Rwanda, at 67%, and Botswana, at 64%, are not far behind, while seven other countries have fully vaccinated more than 40% of their populations.
To counter the still significant hurdles, particularly delivery capacity, countries have appropriately, and wisely, focused their attention on vulnerable groups, to prevent serious illness and death.
As WHO, we strongly encourage this, and the prioritisation of not only the elderly but people with conditions that make them more vulnerable to severe illness and deaths.
With 10 countries still not having fully vaccinated even 10% of their populations, interventions such as the very successful mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns conducted this year will need to continue for some time.
In parallel, it will be important for countries to begin and accelerate efforts to make the shift towards the longer-term goal of sustainably integrating COVID-19 vaccination into routine primary health care service delivery.
In closing, let me appeal to everyone to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes possible. Vaccination is still our best defence again COVID-19, and our best chance of ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
Again, thank you so much for joining us, and I look forward very much to our discussions today.