WEBVTT - How Africa’s responding to the Mpox emergengy 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:08.040 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:12.480 A mutated strain of the highly contagious and potentially deadly 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:16.200 empox virus that started in the DRC has now spread 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.599 to several African nations and infected thousands. The head of 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.919 the World Health Organization now says potential spread of disease 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:27.560 within Africa and beyond is quote very worrying. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:33.159 Today, the Emergency Communtee met and advised me that in 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:38.879 its view, the situation constitutes a publical emergency of international concern. 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.040 I have accepted that advice. 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:46.120 More than fifteen thousand cases have been reported so far 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:50.479 in the DRC, but at least six other African countries 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:55.640 have seen cases, and Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.760 reported their first ever empox diagnoses. 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:03.560 We now have cross border transmission and the virus is 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:08.039 now moving into countries where it hadn't been before. It 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:13.440 seems to be almost all mostly human to human transmission. 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.559 On this episode of the Next Africa Podcast, we'll ask 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:19.679 how well the region is responding to the empox outbreak 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:24.119 and whether economies here can cope with another major health emergency. 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:29.360 The world cannot afford to don a bland eye to 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:34.800 this crisis. 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.560 I'm Jennifer's Abasaga and this is the Next Africa Podcast, 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.720 bringing you one story each week from the continent, driving 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.759 the future of global growth with the context only Bloomberg 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:51.320 can provide. Jenni's Q has been following the developments very 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.160 closely for Bloomberg News and I'm delighted to say she's 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.440 joining us now. Hi, Jennis, it's been a busy week 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:56.680 for you. 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:59.960 Indeed, it's been quite a few big developments. 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.720 Thanks so much for being here. Let's just start here 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.120 because emparks, obviously, as you're reporting now, it'es hit the 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.520 headlines in twenty twenty two when outbreaks were reported all 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.960 over the world. What's different about this current outbreak we're seeing. 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.480 Africa got no vaccines back in twenty twenty two and 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.240 twenty twenty three, even though emparks is endemic in parts 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:25.200 of the continents, and the strain that we are seeing 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.680 now in this outbreak that is particularly concerning actually links 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:29.600 to the endemic strain. 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.840 It's a offshoot of the endemic strain, and that's. 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:37.040 Called CLAID one, and CLAID one is a more virulent 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:41.400 version and we are now seeing this mutated strain and 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.880 it's spreading. We've seen it emanating out of Central Africa 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:50.120 spread east and scientists are scrambling to get enough data 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:54.720 on what exactly is going on. Surveillance is fairly sketchy. 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.000 It's a difficult area to work in, and there is 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.720 evidence that it is like the outbreak in twenty twenty 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:04.040 two and twenty three. 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:05.799 There is an element. 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:10.480 Of sexual transmission, but it is transmitting and spreading well 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:15.240 beyond that specific mode. So we've got the most number 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:20.880 of cases in children, although it's spreading faster in sexual networks, 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:24.320 and it's very difficult to get a grasp of because 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:28.640 of the multiple modes. I asked the WHO when they 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.560 made the announcement this week whether there was an airborne component, 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.160 and they have no confirmed evidence that is the case, 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.440 but they haven't ruled it out. They are looking at 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.760 all possibilities at this stage. 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.880 Well, and could that potentially be why we're seeing it 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.000 spread across borders as rapidly as it is. 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.680 It seems that the most likely pathway is still close 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:52.240 contact across borders. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.200 Could well be We've had a lot of roads. 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:59.880 Built in Africa and truckers moving across borders are known 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.800 to be one way that this has transmitted. We've also 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.680 got a lot of remote mining sites and camps housing 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:12.360 hundreds of thousands of conflict displaced Congolese where once those 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:16.080 roads are built, you get a quicker movement to cities. 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:20.080 And it's people that really move these kind of viruses along, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.400 and as we've seen with other pandemics, we're all interconnected. 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:27.080 It really probably takes a handful of people who've been 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.640 working in these areas getting on a flight to other 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.880 parts of the world and things can move very quickly 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:32.320 from there. 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.760 Jenne, as someone who's covered the healthcare space for quite 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:37.720 a while, what do you make of the reaction, because 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.080 it felt like it was sort of a light switch 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.200 and it went from really sort of teetering behind the 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.360 headlines to now it is the top story. Really, do 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.120 you think governments are now taking it seriously? 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:49.680 So? 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:53.280 Africa certainly has been left behind before, and the Africa 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:57.240 Center for Disease Control and Prevention has acted this week 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:01.080 as well as the who they'll be coordinating things on 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.040 behalf of the various governments. The NGOs have been calling 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.000 out about this poor months at least eight months ago, 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:11.760 this particular strain was identified, but to be fair, since 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.520 the WHO convened the panel last week, it's moved pretty quickly. 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.560 Often a panel was sit for days and yesterday they 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.960 met for the first time and in European time. By 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.880 the evening they had already made the declaration and Africa 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:30.120 CDC declared a continent wide version public health emergency the 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.400 day before the WHO decided on calling the Global virgin. 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.279 It was the first time Africa CDC had declared an 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:40.039 emergency since receiving this power from its member states last year, 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.920 and the regional body has rarely made an effort to 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.720 get into the driving seat this time around. The Director 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.279 General of Africa CDC went so far this week in 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.320 saying that Africa didn't get appropriate support in twenty twenty 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.080 two and twenty three and what the continent is facing 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.480 today is really a consequence of having no assistance. 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.920 And you mentioned that glows health emergency that was declared 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.560 on August fourteenth from the WHO. Give us some insight, Janets. 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:07.520 What does this do? 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:08.280 So? 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:12.560 It prompts all the member states to report, It improves surveillance, 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:17.479 it helps release funds so effectively marshaling resources. WHO this 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.080 week in their briefings said that they are figuring out 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.960 the detail still and we will get further details in 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:24.880 the coming days. 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:28.280 Hopefully it will mean that countries in the West who. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.760 Have stockpiles at least some of them do from the 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:32.960 twenty twenty to twenty three art. 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.160 Breaks there that they will share their vaccines. 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.360 That all being said, it's not like the who can 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.880 ready force their member states to do a whole lot 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.520 at this point, but it certainly gets attention and it 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.640 creates space for talks to be happening so that these 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.800 resources are used in the best possible way. 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.520 Stick with US Janets when we come back, we want 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.240 to talk about what the impact of this outbreak could 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:00.360 actually be based on smoothysus meent that you were just 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.279 giving us, and also whether there have been lessons learned 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.719 from COVID or not so far off from that global 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.120 health emergency. So we'll talk about that after the break. 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.240 So welcome back today. We're discussing the m Park's outbreak 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:24.040 in the DRC and also that hitting over countries across 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.760 the continent. We have JENSQ who's been following this story 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:29.760 very closely. Jenne is, do we know yet what the 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:34.320 economic impact of this potentially could be so far it 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.840 couldn't have a similar effect as COVID did to economies 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:38.760 across the continent. 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:44.160 One of the lessons I think both the agencies, the 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:48.640 EFFICACYDC and the who learned from COVID was that as 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:52.240 far as possible, it is preferable not to close borders, 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.360 and so at this stage both of them have said 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.880 that they do not see a need for that. There 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:01.920 are certainly upping surveillance borders, but they do not want 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.520 to cause the economic hardships that were caused by the 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.920 reaction to COVID. The logistics are definitely tricky. The DRC, 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.320 where most of the cases are at the moment, it's 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.240 a very big country. As I said, there are a 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.200 lot of displaced people. They're some very remote areas. But 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:23.040 there's also a lot of stigma related to empocs. In 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.280 the twenty twenty two to twenty three outbreak that was global, 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.800 most of the cases were in sexual networks, predominantly men 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.720 who have sex with men, and in parts of Africa, 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.120 this is not just frowned upon. There are some countries 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.520 where it can actually attract the death penalty, and so. 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.400 They are trying to think. 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:44.760 On the ground, many of the NGOs are trying to 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.280 work with people with communities to get rid of that stigma. 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:52.640 In addition to that, there is a need to help people. 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:55.880 Not to be suspicious of vaccinations and other measures that 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.040 might be needed. So there is a lot of work 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.440 to be done, and the WHO, Mike Rine made it 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.840 very clear in a recent briefing that the tide only 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:08.800 turned on the previous outbreak, specifically in the US and Europe, 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:13.920 when the most affected communities were properly engaged, and there 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:15.320 is a lot of work to be done on that. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.640 When you talk about vaccinations and skepticism around vaccinations, how 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:23.480 might that play into a potential vaccination program that we 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.440 do see with this strain. 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:30.640 Yeah, so vaccination programs probably facing two main issues. The 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.880 one is the logistics, which as said is tricky in 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.600 many of these countries because they are large countries and 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:42.240 don't have a lot of infrastructure. They also generally just 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.800 very fragile health systems. Africa is arguably the consonants that 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:49.200 is most effects about global warming, and so the spread 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.040 of other diseases like cholera and malaria have increased. We 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.480 already know that sub Saharan Africa has the world's highest 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:01.480 number of HIV cases, and that is comobidity, which has 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.720 been highlighted as a big risk factor, both because people's 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.440 immune systems are weaker if they have untreated HIV, but 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:13.840 also because of the risk of somebody potentially harboring an 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.880 impacts virus where there might not be notably ill the 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:21.480 whole time, but the virus is sitting there latently and mutating, 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.920 and so those risks are real. And I do think 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.800 that beyond the logistics as we refer to this community engagement, 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.680 explaining to people that giving a child of vaccinations not 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.920 because you are trying to put a tattoo on their 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.040 arm effectively to say that they are going to be 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.880 a victim of sexual violence, for example, but that this 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.200 is just a smart way of ensuring that they are 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.079 protected preemptively. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:52.480 And it could potentially keep fatality rates from going up. 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:52.719 Right. 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:54.760 Could that potentially have an impact then on what we 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.800 actually see in people just getting very sick and not 0:10:58.160 --> 0:10:58.920 dying from it. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.520 Essentially, Yeah, I mean the vaccines are pretty effective. They 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.520 stem from small pox vaccines, and all the pox viruses 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.200 are in the same sort of family. And when we 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.640 spoke to the Very Nordic that is the company that 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:15.040 provides or makes the main vaccine that's been approved so far. 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.480 I asked whether with mutations there were confidence that the 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.160 vaccine would still be effective, and the answer is yes. 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.720 Even one shot gives you about eighty percent protection, which 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:30.440 is decent. The WHO and Africa CDC have gone on 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.120 to say that as important as vaccines are and as 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.520 much as we need them on the ground in Africa, 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.800 they aren't the only measure. Antivirals when you're already sick 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.440 can help, and even there is evidence that something as 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.600 simple as a decent disinfectant that you would use at 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.960 home can kill this virus. Again, Mike grind from the 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.680 WHO made this point that if we act quickly, we 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.280 can contain this and. 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.080 So then jen As I know this is a fast 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.800 moving story as this virus is also spreading quite fast, 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.679 But what is it that you're paying attention to next, 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.280 whether that's from the WHO the Africa CDC, I mean, 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.720 what is it that we should be watching out for next? 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.800 When we start saying sustained human human transmission in countries 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:17.320 where they've currently got just a handful of cases, that 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.280 is something that we would need to pay attention to 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.200 once it really settles into a community, it does make 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:28.160 it harder to eradicate, and then of course any evidence 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:30.400 that it is moving rapidly in other parts. 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:30.640 Of the world. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:35.760 We really want to see the entire situation being handled 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.040 differently to what we saw with COVID and the previous 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.480 impox outbreak. I mean, quite frankly, I think we failed 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:43.959 in both of those. In the response, I think there 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.439 have been lessons that have been learned. There are pathways 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.400 for vaccination programs that could be tapped into again that 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.720 were set up during COVID, And to echo what's the 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.559 Director General for Africa CDC said in his recent briefing 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.000 is that we want to make sure first and foremost 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:07.800 at this point that every African is protected. Every person, 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.200 whether you're in a city or a remote area, has access, 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.240 and that is what we're aiming for. It would be 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:18.480 very disheartening if we saw countries that already have stockpiles 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:23.440 refusing to share, and countries that are less affluent not 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.439 being able to get vaccines. 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:26.560 Because of affordability issues. 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.920 This is not something that I see as a fault 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:34.280 of the manufacturing companies they've got to still be able 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.839 to be viable, and they have a very not already 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:41.040 given a donation, but they can't donate all of their Traditionally, 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.000 the model with vaccinations is that the countries who can 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:48.320 pay subsidize effectively those that can't. And in this case 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.760 the numbers aren't big enough and the countries that need 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.400 it most are less likely to be able to afford 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.000 the full price, which the Africa CDC has currently pigged 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.320 at about one hundred dollars a dose. So we really 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.920 do hope that we will see more sharing, we will 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:07.040 see the community, international community really figuring out's a base 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.960 away than what we've seen in other pandemics. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.240 Especially when you factor in the economic situation for a 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.080 lot of these countries. Janis Q, thank you so much 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:16.959 for joining us and for your recording on this. Really 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.920 appreciate it. And you can read all the latest coverage 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:26.400 on the outbreak on Bloomberg News platforms now and with 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.200 the memories of the damage that COVID had on the 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:33.240 economies and Africans themselves still fresh in the minds of many, 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.440 hopefully we'll see governments avoid this fast spreading virus having 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:45.040 similar effects across the continent. This program was produced by 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.440 Adrian Bradley. Don't forget to follow and review the show 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.920 wherever you usually get your podcast. I'm Jennifer's Abasaja. Thanks 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:55.320 so much for listening.