Tag: AFRICA CDC

UNICEF Issues Emergency Tender To Secure Mpox Vaccines For Crisis-hit African Countries

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter UNICEF has announced that it has issued an emergency tender for the procurement of mpox vaccines. Vaccines can play a critical role in containing the mpox outbreak which was declared a public health emergency by both the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The UNICEF tender is issued to help secure mpox vaccines for the hardest hit countries in collaboration with Africa CDC, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO, the Pan American Health Organization and other partners. This collaboration…

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Africa CDC Develops Mpox Surveillance Reporting Protocol for African Union Member States

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In a bid to enhance existing mpox surveillance in Africa, identify at risk populations as well as understand the epidemiology, natural history and risk factors associated with mpox, the Africa Centre for Diseases Control (Africa CDC) has developed an Mpox surveillance protocol for member states. The new protocol recommends enhancing surveillance within communities and health facilities and, at the point of entries, linking these efforts to national and regional laboratories for confirmation. Countries are encouraged to share the case-based data with the African CDC and the WHO…

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#BREAKING: WHO Hints On Declaring Mpox Public Health Emergency Of International Concern

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of a more deadly and highly infectious Mpox strain spreading across Africa and other parts of the world. This follows revelations that the mpox outbreak that has been raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the past several months might have spilled beyond the DRC borders. A report by science publication www.science.org shows that sequencing of the mpox viruses in three cases reported earlier this week in Uganda and Kenya has now confirmed…

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Single Dose Oral Cholera Vaccine Strategy Bears Fruit On the African Continent

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Following indications of Global Shortages of the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV), the International Coordinating Group (ICG), the body which manages emergency supplies of vaccines announced a temporary suspension of the standard two-dose vaccination regimen in cholera outbreak response campaigns, using instead a single-dose approach. Despite fears from countries currently battling Cholera, the one-dose strategy has proven to be effective in responding to outbreaks, even though evidence on the exact duration of protection is limited, and protection appears to be much lower in children.  With a two-dose regimen,…

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Fragile Health Systems Expose Africa To Untold Climate Change Disasters Says AMREF

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa For a long time, discourse on climate change has revolved around the effects of Climate Change on the environment in particular air pollution, an issue most prevalent in the Global North. Very little focus was being given to the impact of climate change on the health and well-being of the human population. However, for the first time in many years, African health Ministers and their counterparts from around the world converged in Dubai for the COP28 where they delivered a strong message regarding the impact climate change…

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Africa CDC Establishes Platform To Boost Manufacturing Of Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics in Africa

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Africa Centres for Diseases Control (Africa CDC), has established a new system, the Platform for Harmonised Africa Health Products Manufacturing (PHAHP), that will see the continent coordinating the manufacturing of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, a top Africa CDC official has said. While the continent has already made inroads regarding local manufacturing of vaccines following the setting of the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing of Vaccines (PAVM) in 2021, which sought to ensure Africa at least manufactures 60 percent of vaccines locall, the PHAHP platform seeks to…

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Africa Needs to Strengthen Disease Surveillance and Innovation to Address Re-emerging Infectious Diseases- Dr Nyirenda

Michael Gwarisa

The world is slowly recovering from the ravaging effects of COVID-19 which lasted close to three years before the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that it was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). According to WHO data, globally, as of 2 August 2023, an estimated 6,953,743 COVID-19 deaths and 768,983,095 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported to WHO. By Michael Gwarisa While the risk of COVID-19 has subsided, and the rest of the world seems to be moving forward, Africa is experiencing a new wave…

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#BREAKING: Marburg virus disease could become global outbreak

Michael Gwarisa

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has not ruled out the possibility of the Marburg virus disease (MVD) becoming a global health pandemic if necessary precautions are not taken on time. By Michael Gwarisa According to the Africa Center for Disease Control, MVD is a highly fatal, zoonotic haemorrhagic disease caused by the Marburg virus. Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with body fluids from infected persons, or contact with equipment and other materials contaminated with infectious blood or tissues, body fluids of infected people, and contaminated surfaces or materials. Giving…

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