It has been a year since the first outbreak of a new, more lethal variant of the mpox virus was first reported in central Africa. Since the beginning of the year, more than 20,000 cases and more than 500 deaths have been officially reported, most of them children, but the true numbers are likely to be higher. The epicentre of the outbreak has been the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has suffered the overwhelming majority of deaths.
In mid-August, the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” Countries around the world watched nervously, but few seemed to recognize that all of this was avoidable — if only we stopped treating so much of humanity as disposable.
Two years ago, we had already received a wake-up call when a less lethal variant of the human immunodeficiency virus (MPOX) spread to Europe and the United States. Vaccination campaigns were launched fairly quickly, but nothing was learned about the dangers of ignoring diseases in Central Africa.
After the moment of panic had passed, at least in Washington, London and Brussels, Western governments built up huge stockpiles of vaccines and kept them for themselves. Parts of Africa where the human immunodeficiency virus (MPOX) has been endemic for two decades were forgotten and left without vaccines, even though millions of them were produced.
Africa received its first vaccines only in the last week. On August 27, USAID delivered 10,000 doses to Nigeria. On September 5, the Democratic Republic of Congo finally received 100,000 doses. There is no doubt that vaccinations could significantly contain the spread of the coronavirus, but these donations came late.
There are many actors who share the blame for this situation, but the crux of the problem, as we saw in the obscene inequality that characterized the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, is that some lives simply do not seem to matter. Or rather, they matter much less than the accumulation of wealth by a few. They matter less than profits.
Two companies produce the leading mpox vaccines: a Japanese company called KM Biologics and a Danish company called Bavarian Nordic. Bavarian Nordic’s share price has soared in recent weeks because of the mpox outbreak. The vaccine was produced through massive injections of public money, but the price Bavarian Nordic charges — $200 to inoculate each individual — is out of reach for many African countries. Most of the doses it produces go to the United States and other wealthy countries.
US-based human rights group Public Citizen says it fears “that Bavarian Nordic may be exploiting the latest global health crisis, putting profits before people.” If the company shared its technology with factories in low- and middle-income countries, the group says, the price could be drastically reduced. Similar vaccines are produced for $4 a dose or less. And Africa would then be better able to meet its own needs in the future.
But the company won't do that. It says that's not how its business model works. Instead, it's encouraging wealthy governments to buy vaccines at full price and then donate them.
But this has not happened either. With only a few exceptions, such as Spain, which pledged to donate 500,000 doses from its own stockpile, donations from rich countries have been a fraction of what is needed. Nor will these donations help prepare the Democratic Republic of Congo for future crises. Activists are clear: both Bavarian Nordic and KM Biologics must share their research with other manufacturers to increase supply and reduce prices.
It is argued that access to vaccines is only part of the problem and that their regulation and administration is a huge challenge. This is true, but it does not justify hoarding technology and maintaining high prices.
Even as the human immunodeficiency virus (MPOX) spread in the Democratic Republic of Congo, some parts of the pharmaceutical industry and their backers in rich countries have opposed a new post-COVID framework that would help. The Pandemic Treaty is supposed to enable everyone to better prepare for and deal with pandemics, recognising that our security is interdependent.
But the UK, along with other rich countries, has stalled the process, fearful of an international agreement that would prioritise saving lives over the profits of big pharmaceutical companies. The intellectual property of these corporations takes precedence over lives in the Global South.
In any case, the broader background to the failure to prevent the latest health emergency in Africa goes back much further, but again, it is deeply rooted in the way the global economy works – an economy that places a much lower value on human life than on the unquestionable right to profit. We have come to accept that this is the way things have to be, thanks to a heavy dose of racism injected into public discourse to “explain” why the Democratic Republic of the Congo is so helpless and its people so disposable.
By some standards, the Democratic Republic of the Congo should be the richest country on the planet, rich in the metals and minerals we use in modern life, but in terms of income, it is actually close to being the poorest.
The reason is that the country has been robbed of its wealth for hundreds of years through brutal colonialism and slavery. Its democratic politicians have been assassinated and dictators have been installed and financed; huge illegitimate debts have been imposed on the people and huge natural resource revenues have been extracted from the country.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is not poor in spite of its natural wealth, but because of it. The lives of its inhabitants simply have no value for the extractive machinery and are disposable when they hinder commercial activity.
Today, mpox is spreading across the resource-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, affecting those unfortunate enough to live off the resources that could enrich others. Several militias, some of them backed by neighbours, are destabilising eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in order to continue plundering the resources. Western countries are doing little to prevent this destabilisation.
It doesn't have to be this way. And right now, we have a limited period in which, despite the fear of the spread of the virus, people can understand that our health is interconnected and that the people of Central Africa are not irrelevant to us.
Valuing their lives means we must immediately prioritize vaccines over corporate profits and selfish hoarding. We need massive donations, along with assistance to help administer vaccines and treat patients. And we need to transfer vaccine knowledge to local manufacturers so they can begin producing their own, building sovereignty over their health care that will enable them to deal with future emergencies.
But this is just the beginning. Unfair access to mpox vaccines is just a microcosm of deeply unfair global relations that must be corrected, most urgently by ending the destabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo, cracking down on tax evasion, and ending the plundering of the country’s resources.
This is a huge task, but the alternative – continuing to ignore the needs and lives of a large part of humanity because it stands in the way of profit – is not only wrong, it will expose us all to new and dangerous epidemics. None of us can be safe in such a world.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
