Africa’s public health landscape is again at the centre of global health attention with a series of actions now in play to stem the spread of mpox. Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention officially declared mpox a public health emergency of continental security.
This was expected to be historic since this is the first time that Africa CDC would be making such a declaration, and it will be the second time in two years that the WHO would be declaring mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
In this episode of the Paul Talks Science podcast host, Paul Adepoju, is joined by Aggrey Aluso who is Pandemic Action Network’s Director for the Africa region. The conversation focused on Africa’s rapidly evolving public health landscape, particularly in relation to the MPOX outbreak. We discussed the challenges Africa faces in responding to infectious disease outbreaks and the need for increased capacity and resources, highlighting the importance of early action and collaboration, both within Africa and globally, to contain outbreaks.
The conversation also touched on the need to prioritize health in national budgets and the role of civil society in holding governments accountable.