Clean water and good hygiene vital to ‘killing the menace’ of African mpox

ByDr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
August 27, 2024

A patient with mpox in Burundi is among roughly 170 cases confirmed by the East African country - Copyright AFP Tchandrou NITANGA

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the mpox spread in Africa as of international concern. In response, the charity WaterAid (an international non-governmental organization, focused on water, sanitation and hygiene) has stressed the need for improvements to be made to water, sanitation and hygiene to help tackle the spread of the disease. This is under the banner “kill this menace”.

The WHO is considering declaring a global emergency. Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said: “Stopping these outbreaks will require a tailored and comprehensive response, with communities at the centre.”

READ MORE: Mpox in DR Congo: Who, what, when, where, and why

As a continent-wide public health emergency for mpox is declared by the African Centre for Disease Control, WaterAid has warned that without clean water and good hygiene, we cannot contain the spread of the virus from spreading across borders and claiming more lives.

The viral disease outbreak has already spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi which have never had cases before as well as countries further afield like Nigeria and South Africa.

With reports that adequate vaccine provision is likely to be months away, WaterAid warns that it has never been more important that communities have access to water, sanitation and hygiene to avoid mPox claiming more lives.

The infectious virus can be spread through contact with physical materials – from bedsheets, sharps, to kitchen surfaces and eating utensils – these routes can be greatly minimised through proper washing and hand hygiene. Women and children are particularly vulnerable due to such regular physical contact, with any crowded environment including health care facilities, schools and hotels at high risk as it is hard for infected people to isolate.

Furthermore, the charity argues, it is important that water, hygiene and sanitation is available in health care centres where the disease will be treated.

The African Centre for Disease Control Chief of Staff Dr Ngashi Ngongo has told WaterAid that improving community access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) was “an important component and main feature of their response plan both at a household level and in health care facilities”.

As part of its international efforts, WaterAid is targeting Britain to lead the international governmental support. In particular, the charity is urging the UK government to:allocate a minimum of 10 percent of the Official Development Assistance budget to water, sanitation and hygiene.
make sure every healthcare facility, everywhere has clean water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH) – our first line of defence against these infections.

WaterAid Health Policy Analyst Irene Owusu-Poku has explained to Digital Journal: “We will fail at killing the menace that is Mpox without clean water and good hygiene. While vaccines are important, they are not the only way out of this urgent and escalating health emergency”.

Owusu-Poku adds: “WaterAid is calling on national and regional health authorities in affected countries to prioritise water, sanitation and hygiene in all emergency response efforts, so we can stop this infectious virus in its tracks…Longer term, to help halt the spread of deadly diseases that are a threat to us all, we also need global governments to increase funding globally for water, hygiene and sanitation – including in health care facilities.”