A thread: Why Africa needs ownership of its health security 👇🏾

Despite @AfricaCDC recording 10000 monkeypox cases & 600 deaths in 2 yrs (20/21), @WHO stockpiled vaccines were only mobilised when monkeypox was identified in far fewer cases and no deaths in rich countries in 2022 The Numbers shown in the chart for Africa are for 2022 only!
The 1400 cases & 66 deaths in Africa in this chart are only for 2022! It’s only after going beyond Africa that stockpiled vaccines are being released & a Public Health Emergency being considered - note no death has been recorded outside Africa yet - we pray none occurs!
The continent has been containing Monkeypox since 1970, Are International Health Regulations (IHR) really fit-for-purpose for Africa? Africa needs its own instruments for emergency response at @AfricaCDC aligned and not contradictory to @WHO and the #IHR but supportive
The resources to slow the disease's spread have long been available, just not to the Africans who have dealt with it since 1970

It’s true that many diseases only attract significant money and interest after infecting people from High Income Countries.
WHO has 31m doses of smallpox vaccines (effective against Monkeypox), mostly kept in donor countries & intended as rapid response to any re-emergence of the disease, which was declared eradicated in 1980. Doses have never been released for any monkeypox outbreaks in Africa
This situation is similar to stockpiles of Ebola doses which are held while Ebola continues to threaten unvaccinated health workers and volunteers in African countries like Uganda & DR Congo - These countries are begging for their release to vaccinate frontline Ebola responders
No one should challenge the Autonomy of @AfricaCDC and it’s own authority to manage continental health threats - in fact, everyone should be supportive. If Africa had the means to manage Monkeypox, the world wouldn’t be worried now!
A strong independent mandated and resourced @AfricaCDC and manufacturing of health commodities in Africa is not for the benefit of Africa but the benefit of the world 🌎

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More from @daktari1

Dec 4, 2021
Spent time in Kibra, Nairobi today attending a vaccination outreach by @AmrefUniversity students & @MOH_Kenya

1. The challenge is not hesitancy - it’s lack of Access.

2. We don’t call a woman who delivers at home because of absence of skilled delivery ‘hesitant’
Behind this tent, there is a well equipped Health centre that vaccinates 9-5pm Monday to Friday and only manages 30 vaccinations per day.

Yet this outreach has vaccinated 300 people in 6 hours from the same neighbourhood - old and young!
Human centred design requires we map vaccination around peoples lives & behaviours not around Health facilities as this woman told me - she is busy through the week working hard to feed & educate her children - Saturday morning outreach near her was all she needed!
Read 7 tweets
Jul 25, 2020
To all of us in the health sector, I pray we manage PATIENTS/PEOPLE not #COVID19 🙏🏾 To the President, the tragedy, SIR,will not be in how many got infected but in how many lost their lives UNCOUNTED as we COUNTED 😔YES to #primarycare capacity - #NotLockdown @StateHouseKenya
1. Information and patient management guidelines and health workers support starting at the lowest health facility upwards #NotLockdown @MOH_Kenya
2. Pulse oximeters at all health facilities to identify patients in IMMEDIATE danger who need referral or high flow oxygen - patients are collapsing waiting for results 😢 - temperature scanners at hospitals casualty inadequate on their own #NotLockdown @MOH_Kenya
Read 8 tweets
Apr 1, 2020
This has been ‘trending’ on WhatsApp groups and I thought its good I put it out there that yes my opinion is that we need to realize the time it will take to go back to normal life is 4-5 months. #COVID19 @Amref_Worldwide #hibernate
I must admit I posted it as a thread on twitter and I have no idea who took it up and created a pdf complete with my photo and a typo (peak not pick!) 🤷🏿‍♂️

Imagine this - Every country has a slow phase which then goes geometric. The slow phase takes about 1 month.
Many countries in Africa have just started their slow phase and projections are peaks in May/June. There is no way the government will be relaxing control measures when local transmission is going up.
Read 9 tweets
Mar 29, 2020
Let me give free advice to ⁦@dailynation⁩ This pandemic is not a short term social disruption but it’s going to take months before our lives go back to normal & start social gatherings. May & June is likely to be the pick with thousands of infected people. Take it slow...
And it’s PEAK not PICK as my Resident Editor @JustDes just picked (pun intended) 😔
This is a marathon. Brace yourselves fellow humans. It’s going to be months of public health measures of physical distance with banned gatherings. Months!! My conservative guess is 4-5 months from now
Read 7 tweets

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