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Africa faces another vaccine apartheid in the fight against monkeypox

Dr. Echey Ijezie
Dr. Echey Ijezie

Even after the novel coronavirus exposed glaring flaws in the world’s collective ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, we are seemingly back to the old ways, as evidenced by the global response to the now endemic monkeypox.

The world may once again lose a chance to control a pandemic.

The zoonotic viral disease, which is already endemic in 10 countries in West and Central Africa, only drew the world's attention after affecting people in rich countries in the Global North. Wealthy countries’ self-destructive unwillingness to cooperate for the benefit of the entire global population is evident again, even after the disruption caused by COVID-19.

Editor's Comment
Our digital safety is in our hands

That sounds like good news. But the report also warns that this may simply be because our digital economy is still young, not because we are safe. As more people shop, bank and pay online, criminals will follow.We Batswana do not need a report to tell us that danger is real. Many of us have heard of or fallen victim to KYC scams. A caller impersonates your bank or mobile money provider. They say they need to “verify” your account. They ask...

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