By staff of The Canadian Press
Posted on July 31, 2022 at 4:47 pm
Updated July 31, 2022 at 4:48 p.m
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A panel of scientists and activists at the AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal are calling on governments around the world to increase resources to handle monkeypox outbreaks.
The plea comes as international experts met today to discuss the need to avoid repeating the mistakes made during the early HIV response.
Dr Meg Doherty, director of the World Health Organization’s global programs on HIV, hepatitis and STIs, told reporters that an equitable approach is crucial to ensure tools are available not only in wealthier countries, but also in Africa, where monkeypox is traditionally found.
Read more: Spain reports second death from monkeypox as virus continues to spread in Europe
More than 19,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 78 countries in recent months, mostly among men who have sex with men, with 803 cases in Canada as of July 29.
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Keletso Makofane, a public health researcher at Harvard University, called the global response to monkeypox “worse than the initial response to HIV,” and said there was already enough information about the virus to contain it .
Meanwhile, Marina Klein, director of medicine research at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Chronic Viral Diseases at McGill University in Montreal, said more studies are needed to understand the extent of disease transmission. .
4:20 Canada has enough smallpox vaccine, but still faces ‘limited supplies’ Canada has enough smallpox vaccine, but still faces ‘limited supplies’
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