There is an mpox jab. Why is it taking so long to reach Africa?

There is an mpox jab. Why is it taking so long to reach Africa?
Furaha Elisabeth applies medication on the skin of her child Sagesse Hakizimana who is under treatment against Mpox, an infectious disease caused by the Mpox virus that causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever, at a health center in Congo (REUTERS)
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Updated 30 August 2024
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There is an mpox jab. Why is it taking so long to reach Africa?

There is an mpox jab. Why is it taking so long to reach Africa?
  • Nigeria is the only African country with doses
  • New variant fairly lethal, experts say

LAGOS/JOHANNESBURG: Mpox is nothing new to Africa yet there is no vaccine available on the continent, exposing rank inequity in global distribution as tens of richer nations inoculate people facing far less risk.
Experts say that inequality — alongside competing health problems and slow regulation — is putting millions of Africans in jeopardy, after scientists found the virus was now mutating fast, leaping from person to person and stealing over borders.
“The lack in the distribution of mpox vaccines in Africa is due to challenges in supply, funding, and infrastructure, and because the disease is less prevalent compared to other health priorities,” Duduzile Ndwandwe, a scientist at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMARA), said in emailed comments.
Mpox had been circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January last year but only became a grave concern this January when scientists spotted the worrying, new mutation.
Two mpox vaccines made by Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic and Japan’s KM Biologics used to combat a 2022 outbreak have been widely available in at least 70 countries outside Africa — even administered for free in some US and European clinics.
But before Nigeria received 10,000 doses from the United States this week, no mpox vaccine was available — in any country — in Africa, and the variant now circling vulnerable, displaced populations in DRC is even more virulent than previous strains.
’A serious epidemic’
Mpox, formerly known as monkey pox, has been a public health problem in parts of Africa since 1970, but received little global attention until an international outbreak in 2022.
It typically causes flu-like symptoms, pus-filled lesions and can kill. Protection costs about $100 a person.
Jimmy Whitworth, professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, described the new variant, clade 1b pox, as “fairly lethal.”
“This appears to be from sexual contact that it’s spreading, and this time it is going from person to person,” Whitworth said. “There’s now a need to raise it to the priority list because this is a serious epidemic.”
Since January 2023, there have been more than 27,000 suspected cases and 1,100 deaths in Congo, according to government figures, mainly among children.
The viral infection has spread from DRC to 12 neighboring countries, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to designate the outbreak a public health emergency.
Many African nations are struggling to meet the challenge.
Whitworth said the $100 needed to distribute a dose of the vaccine is prohibitive for governments who must quash multiple threats — measles, malaria, cholera — with limited budgets.
“It is a huge expense to vaccinate just DRC. If you asked people in DRC last year what the higher priority was, ‘was it the measles or mpox vaccine?’ They would have said ‘measles vaccine’. And so would anybody else in public health because that was a bigger threat then,” the epidemiologist said.
National regulations are also a problem.
Despite the severity of the mpox crisis and the risk of it spreading across DRC’s borders, local regulators only approved a vaccine in June with no date yet set for distribution.
Why the delay?
In 2022, two mpox vaccines, along with public health campaigns against risky behavior, effectively controlled an outbreak that had hit 100 countries globally.
But African countries have so far remained underserved, with efforts only now ramping up to bolster their protection.
Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it had been granted 9.34 million euros ($10.43 million) in emergency funding from the Africa Union for its mpox response and it said it would need 10 million doses of vaccines.
Bavarian Nordic said it can make 10 million doses of its vaccine by end-2025 and offered 2 million doses this year.
The WHO gave its partner agencies, including global vaccine organization Gavi and UNICEF, the go-ahead to buy mpox vaccines pre-approval to speed their delivery to Africa.
DRC had expected to receive its first vaccines in the week of Aug. 26 after the United States and Japan both promised deliveries, but has since said it would take longer.
European Union countries have also pledged donations to help Africa fight the current outbreak.
Whitworth said regulators in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya, all countries where cases have been detected, should approve vaccines urgently without waiting for a full outbreak.
“The vaccine isn’t even licensed in those countries,” said Whitworth. “Those countries … need to speed up the process.”
Weak health system
Even pre-mpox, Congo’s health system was at breaking point — weighed down by epidemics of measles and Ebola and years of conflict — and campaigners say short-term fixes won’t work.
Katharina Schroeder from Save the Children said long-term investment in social welfare and health care infrastructure were vital to prevent future outbreaks, with many remote health centers lacking basic testing kits or trained staff.
“The health centers outside the city need to be equipped to triage patients … because often they’re looking for things like gloves and masks,” Schroeder said.
Save the Children has been training staff on the disease, but even when diagnoses are successfully sped through, few sick patients can then afford to isolate for the mandated four weeks.
“They understand this is mpox, they understand this is dangerous for their family. But they still don’t go into isolation because they live day by day. They don’t have enough to eat,” Schroeder said.


Trump defends block on foreign students at Harvard

Updated 16 sec ago
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Trump defends block on foreign students at Harvard

Trump defends block on foreign students at Harvard
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump defended on Sunday his administration’s move to block foreign students at Harvard after a judge suspended the action, branded by the top university as unlawful.
“Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31 percent of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign nationals, throwing the future of thousands of students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.
She had threatened last month to block international students at the school unless it turned over records on visa holders’ “illegal and violent activities.”
But a judge quickly suspended the move after the university sued to “stop the government’s arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional action.”
The White House is cracking down on US universities on several fronts, justified as a reaction to what the administration says is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at addressing historical oppression of minorities.
It has also moved to revoke visas and deport foreign students involved in protests against the war in Gaza, accusing them of supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas.
At Harvard, the government has threatened to put $9 billion of funding under review, then went on to freeze a first tranche of $2.2 billion of grants and $60 million of official contracts. It has also targeted a Harvard Medical School researcher for deportation.
The loss of foreign nationals — more than a quarter of its student body — could prove costly to Harvard, which charges tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition.
Harvard is the wealthiest US university with an endowment valued at $53.2 billion in 2024.

Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners as another attack on Kyiv leaves 3 dead

Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners as another attack on Kyiv leaves 3 dead
Updated 26 min 13 sec ago
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Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners as another attack on Kyiv leaves 3 dead

Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners as another attack on Kyiv leaves 3 dead
  • Hundreds more Ukrainian and Russian detainees were freed in a prisoner swap exchange
  • Russian president Vladimir Putin accused of delaying peace deal in a bid to capture more Ukrainian land

KYIV: Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.
The exchange came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack and authorities said another combined aerial attack that started Saturday night and stretched into Sunday morning had left three people dead in the “Kyiv region,” according to Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv regional military administration.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said “there are already 10 injured” is Kyiv as of 3 a.m. Sunday, adding that a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit a drone and the exterior of one of its walls was on fire.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers on Saturday, a day after each released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. Further releases expected over the weekend are set to make the swap the largest in more than three years of war.
“We expect more to come tomorrow,” Zelensky said on his official Telegram channel. Russia’s defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details.
Hours earlier, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital overnight.
In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.
‘A difficult night’
Officials said Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight while Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and neutralized 245 drones — 128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic warfare.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the biggest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital.
“A difficult night for all of us,” the administration said in a statement.
Posting on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it “clear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process.”
Posting on X, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke of “another night of terror for Ukrainian civilians.”
“These are not the actions of a country seeking peace,” Lammy said of the Russian strike.
Katarina Mathernová, the European Union’s ambassador to Kyiv, described the attack as “horrific.”
“If anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue — read the news,” Katarina Mathernová wrote on the social network.
Air raid alert in Kyiv
The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six Kyiv city districts. According to the acting head of the city’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district.
The Obolon district, where a residential building was heavily damaged in the attack, was the hardest hit with at least five wounded in the area, the administration said.
Yurii Bondarchuk, a local resident, said the air raid siren “started as usual, then the drones started to fly around as they constantly do.” Moments later, he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air.
“The balcony is totally wiped out, as well as the windows and the doors,” he said as he stood in the dark, smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.
The air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours, warning of incoming missiles and drones.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitalii Klitschko, warned residents ahead of the attack that more than 20 Russian strike drones were heading toward the city. As the attack continued, he said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in Obolon. Emergency services were headed to the site, Klitschko said.
Separately, 13 civilians were killed on Friday and overnight into Saturday in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s south, east and north, regional authorities said.
Three people died after a Russian ballistic missile targeted port infrastructure in Odesa on the Black Sea, local Gov. Oleh Kiper reported. Russia later said the strike Friday targeted a cargo ship carrying military equipment.
Russia’s defense ministry on Saturday claimed its forces overnight struck various military targets across Ukraine, including missile and drone-producing plants, a reconnaissance center and a launching site for anti-aircraft missiles.
A complex deal
The prisoner swap on Friday was the first phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.
It took place at the border with Belarus, in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
POWs arrived at the medical facility in the Chernihiv region for a second day on Saturday. But for many their arrival was bittersweet.
Those who were not reunited with their loved ones took solace in the released POWs providing some information about when their relatives were last seen.
Anna Marchenko, the daughter of a missing Ukrainian serviceman, was elated when a released POW said they had seen her father.
“This is such a big news. It’s like a fresh breath of air,” she said. “I didn’t see him, but at least it’s some news. At least it’s news that gives us the opportunity to continue to breathe and live in peace.”
However, the exchange — the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians so far — did not herald a halt in the fighting.
Battles continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.
After the May 16 Istanbul meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure” and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a “sustainable, long-term, comprehensive” peace agreement, once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.
Far apart on key conditions
European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.
The Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that overnight and early on Saturday its forces shot down over 100 Ukrainian drones over six provinces in western and southern Russia.
The drone strikes injured three people in the Tula region south of Moscow, local Gov. Dmitriy Milyaev said, and sparked a fire at an industrial site there.
Andriy Kovalenko, of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Saturday the drones hit a plant in Tula that makes chemicals used in explosives and rocket fuel.


ASEAN must deepen integration and stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says

ASEAN must deepen integration and stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says
Updated 58 min 12 sec ago
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ASEAN must deepen integration and stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says

ASEAN must deepen integration and stay united to tackle US tariffs, Malaysia says
  • ASEAN countries, many of which rely on exports to the US, are reeling from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration
  • ASEAN unsuccessfully sought an initial meeting with the US as a bloc

KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asian nations must accelerate regional economic integration, diversify their markets and stay united to tackle the fallout from global trade disruptions resulting from sweeping US tariff hikes, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Sunday.
Mohamad, opening a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also reiterated the bloc’s call to warring parties in Myanmar to cease hostilities in a deadly civil war that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people since a 2021 government takeover by the military.
“ASEAN nations are among those most heavily affected by the US-imposed tariffs. The US–China trade war is dramatically disrupting production and trade patterns worldwide. A global economic slowdown is likely to happen,” Mohamad said. “We must seize this moment to deepen regional economic integration, so that we can better shield our region from external shocks.”
ASEAN countries, many of which rely on exports to the US, are reeling from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration ranging from 10 percent to 49 percent. Six of the association’s 10 member nations were among the worst-hit with tarrifs ranging from 32 percent to 49 percent.
ASEAN unsuccessfully sought an initial meeting with the US as a bloc. When US President Donald Trump last month announced a 90-day pause on the tariffs, countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam swiftly began trade negotiations with Washington.
The meeting of foreign ministers preceded a planned ASEAN leaders’ summit Monday in Malaysia, the bloc’s current chair. A summit is expected to follow on Tuesday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
ASEAN’s unity is crucial as the region grapples with impacts of climate change and disruption from the malevolent use of artificial intelligence and other unregulated techologies, Mohamad said, adding that ASEAN’s centrality will be tested by external pressure, including a superpower rivalry.
“External pressures are rising, and the scope of challenges has never had higher stakes,” he said. ““It is therefore crucial that we reinforce the ties that bind us, so as to not unravel under external pressures. For ASEAN, unity is now more important than ever.”
ASEAN members have refused to take sides, engaging the US and China, which are both key regional trading and investment partners.
ASEAN remained committed to help war-torn Myanmar, which is recovering from a March earthquake that killed more than 3,700 people, Mohamad said.
Myanmar’s military leaders were barred from attending ASEAN meetings after refusing to comply with ASEAN’s peace plan, which includes negotiations and delivery of humanitarian aid.
“We call on the stakeholders in Myanmar to cease hostilities, and to extend and expand the ceasefire, to facilitate the long and difficult path toward recovery,” Mohamad said.
Myanmar’s crisis has challenged the credibility of ASEAN, which has been hampered by its long-held policy of non-interference in each other’s affairs.
After informal consultations with bloc members, Mohamad said Saturday that ASEAN has to step up efforts as Myanmar’s problems had spilled over borders with a growing number of refugees fleeing to neighboring nations and rising transborder crime.
Malaysia’s efforts now focus on de-escalation of violence and greater access to humanitarian aid, but he said plans for political dialogue between the conflicting parties would be challenging due to a “trust deficit.”


North Korea detains 3 shipyard officials over the failed launch of a naval destroyer

North Korea detains 3 shipyard officials over the failed launch of a naval destroyer
Updated 59 min 16 sec ago
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North Korea detains 3 shipyard officials over the failed launch of a naval destroyer

North Korea detains 3 shipyard officials over the failed launch of a naval destroyer
  • Satellite imagery on the site showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of the ship submerged
  • The failed launch was subsequently an embarrassment to Kim Jong Un, who is eager to build greater naval forces to deal with what he calls US-led military threats

SEOUL: North Korea authorities have detained three shipyard officials over the recent failed launch of a naval destroyer, an incident that leader Kim Jong Un said was caused by criminal negligence, state media said Sunday.
The 5,000-tonne-class destroyer was damaged Wednesday when a transport cradle on the ship’s stern detached early during a launch ceremony attended by Kim at the northeastern port of Chongjin. Satellite imagery on the site showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of the ship submerged.
The vessel is North Korea’s second known destroyer. The failed launch was subsequently an embarrassment to Kim, who is eager to build greater naval forces to deal with what he calls US-led military threats.
North Korea launched its first destroyer, also a 5,000-ton-class ship, with massive fanfare last month. The ship is North Korea’s largest and most advanced warship and state media reported it is designed to carry various weapons including nuclear missiles.
Law enforcement authorities detained the chief engineer, head of the hull construction workshop and deputy manager for administrative affairs at Chongjin Shipyard, who they said were responsible for Wednesday’s failed launch, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Hong Kil Ho, the shipyard manager, also was summoned for questioning, KCNA previously reported.
Kim blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for what he called a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.”
In an instruction to investigators Thursday, North Korea’s powerful Central Miliary Commission echoed Kim’s position, saying those responsible “can never evade their responsibility for the crime.”
North Korea denied the warship suffered major damage, saying the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater flowed into the stern section.
North Korea said Friday it needed about 10 days to make repairs, but many outside observers said the country likely understated the damage.


George Floyd’s uncertain legacy is marked five years on

George Floyd’s uncertain legacy is marked five years on
Updated 25 May 2025
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George Floyd’s uncertain legacy is marked five years on

George Floyd’s uncertain legacy is marked five years on
  • An anniversary event is taking place in what has been named George Floyd Square

MINNEAPOLIS: Americans on Sunday mark five years since George Floyd was killed by a US police officer, as President Donald Trump backtracks on reforms designed to tackle racism.
Floyd’s deadly arrest on May 25, 2020 helped launch the Black Lives Matter movement into a powerful force that sought to resolve America’s deeply rooted racial issues, from police violence to systemic inequality.
But since Trump’s return to power in January — he was serving his first term when Floyd died — his administration has axed civil rights investigations and cracked down on diversity hiring initiatives.
BLM, meanwhile, finds itself lacking the support it enjoyed when protesters sprawled across US cities during the Covid pandemic — with many now agreeing the movement achieved little of substance.
An anniversary event is taking place in what has been named George Floyd Square, the area of Minneapolis where the 46-year-old took his final breath as police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck during an arrest.
A small junction in a residential part of the northern US city, the square is covered with protest art including a purple mural that reads “You Changed the World, George.”
That optimistic message painted in 2020 is now, however, at odds with a president whose more extreme allies have suggested he pardon Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering Floyd and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.
Some experts believe Trump’s re-election was partly a backlash to BLM activism, which included protests that turned to riots in some cities and calls to defund the police.
Floyd’s family members told AFP in Minneapolis on Friday that they wanted people to continue pushing for reform despite the hostile political climate.
“We don’t need an executive order to tell us that Black lives matter,” said his aunt Angela Harrelson, who wore a dark T-shirt depicting Floyd’s face.
“We cannot let a setback be a holdback for the great comeback. Donald Trump just didn’t get the memo,” she added to nods from other relatives standing beside her.
Paris Stevens, a Floyd cousin, agreed: “No one can silence us anymore.”
The Floyd relatives, with around 50 other people, held a moment of silence on Friday afternoon before placing yellow roses on the roadside spot where Floyd’s fatal arrest was filmed and shared around the world.
It was a moment of reflection — others include a candlelight vigil on Sunday night — during a weekend otherwise devoted to music, arts and dancing.
Memorial events have been held annually since Floyd’s death and the theme for this one — “The People Have Spoken” — was suggested by Nelson Mandela’s grandson Nkosi when he visited the square, according to Harrelson.
She said the defiant title was meant to reflect five years of protesting, adding that “even though it’s tiresome, we go on.”
Visitors are expected to pay their respects through the weekend.
Jill Foster, a physician from Minneapolis, told AFP at the square on Friday that she felt honoring Floyd’s legacy was partly a form of political resistance.
“Under the Trump administration, everything is trying to be rewritten and a new reality created,” the 66-year-old said.
“We have to keep the memory going and keep the information flowing.”
Meanwhile, for Courteney Ross, Floyd’s girlfriend when he died, the anniversary weekend brings up powerful feelings of personal loss.
“I miss him so much, I miss him by my side,” Ross, 49, told AFP, dressed in black and holding a bunch of yellow roses.
“It’s beautiful to see all the people come out and celebrate him,” she added.
“You see a unification that you don’t get a lot in this country lately, and people are celebrating a man who, you know, gave his life for us.”