The Global Health Report

African countries are at risk of missing out on flu jabs in the case of a pandemic, according to the latest study from the WHO.

The research paper, published last month in Vaccine, says that there are significant gaps in the distribution of flu jabs, especially in Africa.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, African countries were left without enough vaccines as the rich world hoarded vital supplies.

This vaccine inequity led to thousands of unnecessary deaths and prompted the African Union to establish the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing in 2021 to stimulate vaccine making on the continent.

However, the initiative is a work in progress and there are still very few vaccine manufacturers in Africa.

It also received significant funding from the US, much of which has now been rescinded after the election of protectionist President Donald Trump last year.

“While influenza vaccine production capacity has been sustained since 2019, significant gaps persist in its distribution, especially in low and lower-middle income countries, and most notably in the African region,” the paper says.

“This imbalance in production could result in unequal access to vaccines in the event of a pandemic.”

The World Health Organization has confirmed that the outbreak of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo should still be considered an international emergency, as efforts to fight the disease have been undermined by the suspension of US aid.

The organisation’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said that the epidemiological situation remained volatile in the region, according to a WHO statement released on Monday (17 March).

It said the situation has been exacerbated by the pause in US support for overseas aid, as the US has so far funded a third of the cost of fighting mpox.

The funding withdrawal comes amid an already tense situaton, with health teams hampered by the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC, and concurrent disease outbreaks in the region, such as an outbreak of Sudan virus in neighbouring Uganda.

The security situation in DRC, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has seized control of a number of key cities in the mineral-rich east of the country, has forced health teams to relocate their operatons, it added.