Six African countries dey wait for Mpox vaccine wey no dey ground. Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, South Sudan and Guinea don join queue for vaccine wey global suppliers no fit provide immediately. Dis one don expose di wahala wey fit scatter di progress wey dem don make against di disease.

Dis vaccine shortage dey happen as di continent dey face four big health wahala – Mpox, cholera, dengue fever and measles. Di Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) don warn say di lack of money and di gap for manufacturing don leave di countries for Africa open to health katakata.

“Vaccination dey go on, but we don dey reach di point wey vaccine no go dey enough to share give di countries wey need am pass,” na wetin Dr Yap Boum, deputy incident manager for Mpox response for Africa CDC, yarn give TRT Afrika. “Na big challenge wey we suppose solve.”

By di beginning of July, Africa CDC don record 25,175 suspected Mpox cases and 574 deaths from di disease for 23 countries for di continent. Even though dem don mobilise three million vaccine doses, di vaccine dey only available for 11 countries. Out of dem, na only seven dey actively vaccinate, while di remaining four no get di resources to share di vaccine reach everywhere.

UNICEF need $33 million to buy 500,000 Mpox vaccines to share. Di lack of money to meet dis target dey show how Africa dey depend on outside help for medical things like vaccines. “We no get di capacity for di continent to produce di vaccines and other medical things wey we need. Na one of di things we suppose push for,” Dr Kyeng Mercy, wey be epidemic intelligence unit lead for Africa CDC, talk.

For di middle of all dis, Uganda don show say dem sabi handle Mpox vaccination well. Dem don use 96% of di first 100,000 doses wey dem get through targeted campaigns. Di country recently collect another 97,000 doses to focus on di areas wey still get di disease.

“Di plan na to stop di disease spread with di first 100,000 doses and also see how di vaccine dey work before di next phase,” Dr Boum explain. Sierra Leone, wey recently see increase for Mpox cases, don start di third phase of dem vaccination drive, and dem wan vaccinate 70,000 people within 10 days.

But even though di vaccination strategy dey work, di vaccine supply no dey meet di demand. “Vaccine dey with di manufacturers, but di money to buy dem na di problem. Na wetin we dey miss,” one healthcare official talk.

As Mpox dey make headlines, cholera dey silently scatter communities for 21 African countries. By di end of June, di continent don record 175,586 suspected cholera cases and 3,553 deaths for dis year alone. Di Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, South Sudan and Angola na di countries wey cholera don hit pass.

For DRC, di South Kivu province wey dey face conflict dey battle cholera, Mpox and measles at di same time. “Di problem for South Kivu na say we no fit reach some areas to deliver medical supplies even though we get stock. Di other big wahala na lack of clean water,” one aid official talk.

Di disease don spread reach North Kivu, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami and Tanganyika provinces. Even Kinshasa, di capital, don report plenty cases.

Di pandemic don show how Africa dey depend on outside help for vaccine, and e don make African leaders decide to build di capacity to produce vaccine for di continent. For di African Union summit last year, dem agree to create one pooled procurement system wey Afreximbank and di United Nations Economic Commission for Africa go support to handle vaccine needs for public health emergencies.

For June 2024, dem launch di $1.2 billion African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) to fund vaccine production for 10 years. Afreximbank don also promise $2 billion for health product manufacturing.

Last October, Africa CDC study show say 25 vaccine projects dey active for di continent. Five manufacturers don get commercial-scale facilities, and dem dey transfer technology. Another five dey wait for technology transfer, while 15 dey for early development stage.

By 2030, di capacity fit reach 1.4 billion doses every year, and e fit increase to two billion during emergencies. Between 2025 and 2030, three African manufacturers dey plan to produce nine WHO-prequalified vaccines.

Even though di continent get di ambition and di means to achieve vaccine independence, di problem na say dem no sure whether buyers go dey when production start. Until dem fit balance dis equation, di wahala of vaccine availability go still dey.