Africa health body calls on Trump to honour US vaccine pledges

By Reuters

Africa’s main public health body said it is seeking assurances that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will provide the funding and mpox vaccines promised by his predecessor.

In September, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $500 million and 1 million vaccine doses to an mpox response plan led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which is battling an mpox outbreak on the continent.

While mpox cases continue to spread on the African continent, donors have been slow to translate their promises into money and vaccines needed to accelerate the response, according to Africa CDC.

Asked if Trump’s recent electoral victory could impact U.S. support for African healthcare, Africa CDC Director John Kaseya said he would push the new administration to honour existing promises.

“As we start to discuss with some of the officials … we’ll continue to talk to them and to engage them to fulfil