Belgium responds quickly to Mpox outbreak in Africa

Belgium has donated 20,000 vaccine doses and is investing 2 million euros to contain an outbreak of Mpox in Central Africa. Furthermore, the Belgian Development Agency Enabel will redirect almost 2 million euros towards the response to Mpox. After all, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

On 13 August 2024, Africa CDC – the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention – declared a state of emergency for 'continental security'. This concerned an outbreak of Mpox (see box) that has spread from DR Congo – both central provinces and cities in the eastern province of Kivu such as Kamituga and Goma – to surrounding countries such as Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. A day later, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a public health emergency of 'international concern'. The reason for this is the high infectiousness of the disease and the danger to public health worldwide.

New variant

The disturbing news was that a new variant – clade Ib – has spread rapidly in eastern Congo and elsewhere. It was more easily transmitted from human to human, via sex workers and their clients, and is therefore more contagious. This clade Ib variant had already been described in the scientific journal Nature in January 2024 by our own Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), together with the Congolese Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB). The Belgian Development Cooperation – administered by the FPS – funded the research.

By 17 October 2024, after 40 weeks of epidemic, we counted 42,438 cases – of which 8,113 were confirmed and 1,100 were fatal – across all five African regions, but mostly in Congo. Meanwhile, cases were also known in Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and South Africa. However, many cases do not get confirmed due to a lack of local testing and testing capacity.
 

Quick response

Belgium therefore took swift action. At the request of the EU health agency HERA – Health Emergency Preparedness and Response – Belgium submitted a formal application, enabling the EU to release 215,000 Mpox vaccine doses for Africa (15 August 2024).

But Belgium made its own contribution. On 6 September 2024, it donated 20,000 vaccine doses from its own stock to Congo. This was possible because the situation in Belgium was sufficiently reassuring. Of course, that stock has been replenished in the meantime.

Furthermore, we are spending 2 million euros for a vaccination campaign and research project in South Kivu (Congo). This project is run by a consortium of the ITM, the INRB and local NGO ALIMA. ALIMA will vouch for vaccination against Mpox while the ITM and the INRB will monitor acceptance of the vaccine among the population. Both research institutions will also investigate the extent to which the vaccination campaign reduces the number of Mpox cases.

The Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) also plays a role: it will redirect just short of 2 million euros from its health remit to the Mpox response in Congo (about 800,000 euros) and Burundi (about 1.1 million euros). The redirection includes the detection and treatment of Mpox patients in addition to more targeted awareness-raising of the population. Enabel also coordinates the Belgian medical NGOs (Memisa, Red Cross, etc.) working in both countries.
 

Robust healthcare systems

This rapid response to the epidemic once again demonstrates the leading role Belgium plays in international health cooperation. The Belgian EU Presidency also placed health at its centre. We fully supported Africa CDC to develop a sound health policy for Africa. The fact that Africa CDC monitors the Mpox epidemic so well shows that our support pays off. International solidarity works!

Since the coronavirus pandemic, Belgium is fully committed to strengthening healthcare systems in many partner countries. The reasoning is that it is much more efficient to devote efforts to creating effective healthcare systems that can then take care of potential epidemics themselves, rather than focusing on particular diseases.

This Mpox outbreak confirms that the reasoning is correct. Mpox strikes mainly in areas where healthcare is not sufficiently accessible or resilient and it is more difficult for people to reach a doctor or health centre. So it remains essential to firmly support healthcare systems – as well as access to quality healthcare.

As we reported earlier, "Global health is no longer merely an issue of development cooperation, but rather an area in the common interest of all people and countries, where no one is safe until everyone is safe. Our future welfare and prosperity rely on our ability to address health issues on a global scale."