Congo must do more to raise awareness about smallpox and the availability of vaccines, a response team official said Thursday, warning that the vaccine distribution campaign would take longer than expected.
The smallpox vaccination campaign was launched this month in the east of the country, hard hit by the disease. A Reuters reporter who visited a vaccination site in North Kivu province found that residents appeared unfamiliar with or wary of the vaccines.
Cris Kacita, the head of Congo’s mpox virus response team, said more needed to be done to boost uptake of the vaccine, adding that the current vaccination campaign would last longer than the planned 10 days.
“The awareness campaign was carried out, but timidly. These are gaps that need to be filled,” he told Reuters.
During a recent visit to a vaccination site in Kibati, a camp hosting displaced people in North Kivu province, residents said they had not received any information about vaccination efforts.
“I don’t know anything about this vaccine. No one has come to inform me about vaccination against smallpox,” said Simon Ngagijimana Chui, the camp leader.
Congo’s smallpox vaccination campaign is a key step in efforts to contain the outbreak at its epicenter, from where it has spread to many other African nations this year.
The campaign’s reach was limited initially due to tight supplies, with only 265,000 doses currently available in the country of around 100 million people.
Kibati health workers have recruited local advocates who have been vaccinated and have the community’s trust to promote the benefits of vaccination.
This is the case of Benire Furahini Buchaguzi, 22, who uses a loudspeaker to broadcast his message.
“I bring my vaccination certificate to the community to show them that I have been vaccinated and to encourage them,” she says.
Smallpox can be spread through close contact and usually causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Although usually mild, the disease can be fatal.
Florence Frebo Uwimana, a young mother who listened to Buchaguzi, said it was the first time she had heard of the vaccination campaign.
“They just tell us to quickly take anyone with symptoms to the hospital, but no one tells us about the vaccine,” she said.
Africa has reported more than 42,400 suspected and confirmed cases of smallpox and 1,100 deaths since the start of 2024, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The vast majority of these cases have been recorded in Congo.
In Goma, the provincial capital, health professionals fear that the lack of information could compromise efforts to contain the disease.
“Maybe they were not informed about the existence of this vaccine,” said Dr. Hassan Amisi Djuma, a public health expert working in the city.
“If the population has not been informed of a disease, there is a risk that it will spread among them.
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