BUJUMBURA, September 12th (ABP) – The Prime Minister of Burundi, Gervais Ndirakobuca, received in audience on Monday, September 9, 2024, at the Ntare Rushatsi Palace, the Regional Director of Health Emergencies at the WHO-Africa International Health Organization, Abdou Salam Gueye, who came to exchange with the Prime Minister on health problems and the problems of health emergencies in general and particularly on the Mpox (Monkeypox) epidemic which has been declared a health emergency. Public Health of International Concern.
Abdou Salam Gueye told the press that he appreciated the intervention of the Republic of Burundi with regard to this epidemic. “The country has responded to the response in a timely and transparent manner while declaring the outbreak, and so far, all cases have been reported to the WHO in accordance with the International Health Regulations,” he said.
Abdou also emphasized that Burundi is also working to relieve the sick because, he explained, what is exceptional is that out of almost 100 people who have tested positive, no case of death has been recorded.
To that end, he welcomed the multisectoral aspect of the Burundian intervention which brings together not only the ministry in charge of health, but also many other ministries within the government. “The Burundian government’s commitment has also given money to the response, an initiative that has been noticed at the WHO level,” he added.
According to that international health authority, if the WHO has already declared the Mpox epidemic a health emergency of international concern, it means that those who have the capacity to help countries in need must declare themselves. “Companies that have the capacity to manufacture drugs for the treatment of Mpox, diagnostics and vaccines must accelerate the process. Even researchers who know something about it should approach the WHO,'” continued Abdou Salam Gueye
He pointed out that until the current era, there has been a mobilization of the international community to help all the countries most concerned, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi.
Given that the quantity of vaccines in the world is very limited, the Regional Director of Health Emergencies at WHO-Africa encouraged countries to make a surveillance system that allows them to detect cases very quickly and isolate them so as not to transmit that disease to other people.
The head of the office in charge of press and communication at the Prime Minister’s Office, Festin Ntiyumvamabwire, on his behalf, said that the Prime Minister and the Regional Director of Health Emergencies at the WHO-Africa level have agreed to help each other in the fight against that epidemic.