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

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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.

Read more from the original article on here at time.com.

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