The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has given Burundi vaccine storage equipment as the nation battles Mpox, which has so far affected more than 230 people in the country.

The equipment, comprising 28 electric and solar refrigerators, 20 ice rooms, and 162 boxes used to carry vaccines, were handed to Burundi’s assistant minister of public health Dr Isidore Ntiharirizwa on Friday by Dr Merawi Aragaw, Africa CDC’s head of Emergency Preparedness and Response Division. The donation is valued at $314,617.

In his speech, Dr Merawi acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed the vulnerability of African countries’ health systems and inequality in access to vaccines, adding that creating space and providing equipment to store quality vaccines was necessary for African states.

“This initiative of supporting cold chain equipment is necessary and mandatory to help vaccinate the continent’s population. We are not only dealing with COVID-19; we are dealing with so many diseases that can be prevented through vaccines, including Mpox. We need this equipment to be functional and effective to accommodate our vaccines. And that is what we are providing today to the government of Burundi,” Dr Merawi said.

Dr Ntiharirizwa thanked the African Union organisation for the donation, noting that it would boost the country’s immunisation programme, ensure quality storage of vaccines and enable immunisation coverage in all areas of the country.

Burundi is the fourth country to get this equipment provided by the Africa CDC in partnership with the Master Card Foundation. The others are Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville.

The country this week announced that some 231 cases of Mpox had been reported and at least 193 patients were admitted to hospital. No deaths have been recorded.

The World Health Organisation is grappling with provision of vaccines especially in Africa, and on Friday, Director-General Tredros Ghebreyesus said the first batch of Mpox vaccines would arrive in the DR Congo “in the next few days.”

East African countries that have reported Mpox cases are DRC, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.