In the Democratic Republic of Congo, doctors and humanitarians raise awareness among the population about vaccination against MPOX

The first vaccines against MPOX are expected next week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicenter of this new epidemic. For now, the United States has promised 50,000 doses and Japan 3.5 million, only for children. This is welcome news for the medical coordinator doctor in the DRC for the non-governmental alliance Alima: “The disease affects school-age children much more. We hope that with the start of the school year, scheduled for September 10, receiving the vaccines as early as possible will help limit this spread.”

Beyond young children, the entire population is affected, including displaced people, but also sex workers. But Dr. Louis Massing, medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the DR Congo, is hopeful: “Unlike other diseases and, in particular, previous epidemics, I think that today the vaccination against mpox will also be accepted by the population. And we have seen in the various group works that we have carried out, they are all in favour of benefiting from this vaccination.”

“We must first present the mode of transmission, the symptoms and the methods of prevention and then arrive at the methods of control, in particular treatment and vaccination.”

Doctor Louis Massing, coordinator of Doctors Without Borders in the DRC

to franceinfo

“The fact of presenting symptoms, of presenting the fairly violent nature of the lesions, it can be a way to have the maximum number of people who adhere to the vaccinationthe doctor believes. This is part of the messages that need to be conveyed. We cannot claim to have the maximum number of people committed to the cause of vaccination without presenting the disease for which they should receive the vaccine.”

According to the latest figures, nearly 17,000 cases have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All provinces of the country are said to be affected.