Mpox cases decline in Sierra Leone as Africa faces shortage in vaccine funding
July 3, 2025
Sierra Leone's declining mpox cases mark a promising shift in West Africa's outbreak trajectory. The Africa CDC credits this trend to expanded community health worker engagement and effective pairing of vaccination with contact tracing. Yet, a deeper crisis is looming—vaccine stocks are available, but funding has dried up. UNICEF and other procurement partners lack the resources to purchase and distribute doses, even as demand and uptake rise in affected communities. As outbreaks stabilize, the absence of timely investment could undermine hard-won progress. Equity in global health must extend beyond words—resource mobilization is now the critical next step.
Sierra Leone, once a critical epicenter of the mpox outbreak in West Africa, is showing encouraging signs of progress. Case counts have declined over the past six weeks, signaling the impact of targeted interventions. As noted by Dr. Yap Boum of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), community health workers have played a pivotal role in detecting infections beyond hospital settings, and the strategic pairing of vaccination with contact tracing has markedly improved response efficiency.
Yet even as case trends improve, a structural failure looms—one not of science, but of financing. Despite an adequate global supply of Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine, organizations like UNICEF lack the funds to procure doses for distribution. This gap is emerging just as vaccine uptake has gained traction across affected regions. Without immediate funding support, this momentum may stall, threatening to reverse progress in Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, and beyond.
Dr. Boum’s warning could not be clearer: “This is a challenge, this is a crisis… this is an imperative of equity.” The situation reflects a recurring pattern in global health—where resource limitations, not technological constraints, dictate the trajectory of outbreaks. Equity in access must be more than a rhetorical aspiration; it must be supported by predictable, flexible financing that enables timely procurement and deployment of lifesaving tools.
The declining numbers in Sierra Leone are proof that the right strategies work. But containment without sustainability is a fragile victory. The international community must now act with urgency—not only to preserve these gains but to reinforce the principle that all nations, regardless of income, deserve the tools to protect their people.