The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today requested $18.5 million (16.5 million euros) for medical aid in Eastern and Southern Africa to try to contain the mpox outbreak. in.
“The funds will be used for essential health services for migrants, internally displaced persons and host communities at risk of disease in Eastern and Southern Africa,” said a spokesman for the Secretary-General of the DA, Stéphen Dujarric, at a press conference in New York.
Previously, the director general of the IOM, Amy Pope, had expressed “deep concern” about the situation.
“The IOM called for swift action to protect those most at risk and to reduce the impact of the outbreak, especially at border crossings,” the Pope said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 15 thousand suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, with others confirmed in Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.
According to the WHO, the total number of deaths due to the virus is currently at 537.
Mpox has been affecting people in East Africa for more than a decade, but it was the rapid spread of the new strain of the virus that prompted the WHO to declare an international public health emergency on August 14 .
“The disease is transmitted from animals to humans and is spread by close contact with infected humans or animals, through respiratory droplets, blood, body fluids or injuries,” the IOM said.
Symptoms include fever, rash, headache, sore throat, muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes.
LUSA/HN
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2024-08-22 05:35:35
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