Written by Jafar Al Qatanti
KIBATI, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo needs to do more to raise awareness about mpox and vaccine availability, a task force official said on Thursday. He warned that the distribution campaign would take longer than expected.
Congo’s mpox vaccination campaign began this month in the hard-hit east. A Reuters reporter at a vaccination site in North Kivu province noticed that local residents seemed either unaware or suspicious of being vaccinated.
Chris Casita, head of Congo’s MPOX task force, said more needs to be done to accelerate vaccine rollout, with the ongoing vaccination campaign lasting longer than the planned 10 days. He added that it would last a long time.
“Awareness campaigns have been carried out, but they have only been intimidating. These gaps need to be filled,” he told Reuters.
During a recent visit to a vaccination site in Kivati, a camp hosting displaced people in North Kivu province, residents said they had not received any information about vaccination efforts.
Camp director Simon Ngagijimana Chui said: “I don’t know anything about this vaccine. No one can tell me about vaccination against mpox.”
Congo’s mpox vaccination campaign is an important step in efforts to contain the outbreak in the epicenter, from where it spread to many other African countries this year.
The campaign’s reach will initially be narrow due to limited supplies, with only 265,000 doses currently available in the country of about 100 million people.
Kivati health workers are promoting the benefits by recruiting local advocates who have been vaccinated and are trusted by the community.
One of them is Benile Flahini Bucyaguzi, 22, who uses a loudspeaker to spread the message.
“I bring vaccination certificates to the community to show they have received the vaccine and encourage them,” she said.
Mpox can be spread through close contact and usually causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. It is usually mild, but can be fatal.
Florence Hlebo Wimana, a young mother who was listening to Buchaguzi’s talk, said it was the first time she had heard about the vaccination campaign.
“If you’re showing symptoms, you’re just told to go to the hospital right away, but no one talks about the vaccine,” she says.
The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that Africa has reported more than 42,400 suspected and confirmed cases of mpox and more than 1,100 deaths since the beginning of 2024. Most of these were in the Congo.
In the state capital, Goma, health workers fear a lack of information will undermine efforts to contain the disease.
“Maybe they are not informed about this vaccine,” said Dr. Hassan Amici Juma, a public health expert working in the city.
“If the public is not informed about the disease, there is a risk that the disease will spread among the population.”
(Additional reporting by Sonia Rolley and Anait Miridzhanian; Writing by Jessica Donati; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
