The go for the vaccination campaign against the Mpox virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo was given in Goma this Saturday, October 5, 2024, by the chief of staff of the Minister of Public Health, Doctor Romain Muboyayi, at the provincial hospital of North Kivu in the presence of the governor’s principal advisor in charge of health, Me. Luanda Kamala Prisca.
In his official launch speech, he indicated that two doses will be given to adults and one dose to children under 18 years old, as the vaccine should in principle be given in two phases.
According to him, the second phase will take place four weeks after taking the first dose and unlike adults, children in turn will only have one dose.
During vaccination, special emphasis will be placed on sex workers, transgender people and homosexuals who are sometimes exposed to this disease, but remain hidden because of their sexual orientation.
“For this campaign, specific strategies are developed by our vaccination experts to reach all our targets, including sex workers, transgender people, men who have sex with men (…)“, declared the chief of staff of the Minister of Public Health.
Speaking, the Principal Advisor to the Governor of North Kivu in charge of health, Me Luanda Kamala Prisca, who represented the provincial authority at this official launch ceremony of vaccination against the Mpox virus, recalled that Mpox is a socio-cultural disease that requires a community approach for its eradication.
She thus called on the entire population of North Kivu, in general and that of Goma and its surroundings in particular, to take ownership of this first phase of vaccination by being vaccinated against the Mpox virus to fight against this deadly epidemic in this part of the country.
In total, the country has recorded more than 30,000 cases, including 988 deaths, since the arrival of this disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a high concentration of confirmed cases in the east of the country.
David Lupembain Goma
