European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides on Thursday called on EU member states to donate smallpox vaccines to Africa, a public health emergency in Africa and globally. Photo by Olivier Hosselet/EPA-EFE
Aug. 23 (UPI) — The European Commission's health and food safety agency is urging EU member states to come together to coordinate donations of MPOX vaccines to African countries in response to the global health crisis.
In a letter to EU health ministers, European Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, responsible for health and food safety, asked member states to communicate by the end of August “their willingness to donate MPOX vaccines and treatments and the quantities they are able to donate.”
“In the context of MPOX epidemics in several African countries, we must act in a coordinated and sustained manner with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and affected countries in a spirit of global solidarity and cooperation,” she said.
Kyriakides said the Africa CDC has since declared MPOX a continent-wide health emergency and is calling on the global community to mobilize two million doses of the vaccine.
“Several Member States and third countries have announced their intention to donate vaccines to affected countries and to Africa,” Kyriakides wrote. “European donations would have a more immediate impact if coordinated with the proven Team Europe approach, as has been successful during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
She said the EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority had worked with a Nordic company in Bavaria to secure and donate 215,000 doses of the MPOX vaccine as part of the first response.
The vaccines will be distributed by the Africa CDC, but Kyriakides said more vaccines are needed to address the MPOX health emergency globally and on the African continent.
The World Health Organization declared MPOX a global health emergency on August 14, stating that it is “committed to coordinating the global response, working closely with affected countries, and leveraging our on-the-ground operations to prevent the spread, treat those who are infected, and save lives in the coming days and weeks.”
EU Member States have joined the efforts of the Africa CDC and WHO in mobilizing countries to share vaccines, therapeutics and other vital resources with countries currently affected by the outbreak.
On August 16, the European CDC published an updated MPXV risk assessment and guidance after cases of MPXV lineage Ib were reported.
The ECDC said the risk of MPOX infection to the general European population is low, but the agency warned that the risk is high for Europeans who have traveled to the countries most affected by MPOX or have close contact with affected areas.
