A Multi-pronged Approach to Addressing Global Poxviruses Vaccine Inequity: A Case of Monkeypox

MonkeypoxMonkeypox has been endemic in Congo and Nigeria for at least five decades. Since early May 2022, there have been numerous unprecedented outbreaks throughout the world in places without any previously reported cases. While a majority of the diagnosed cases have been within Europe and the Americas, several cases have occurred in non-endemic African countries. As of December 2022, 82,999 cases had been reported globally, prompting concern among the World Health Organization (WHO) members. While the WHO has not labeled this epidemic a Global Health Emergency, member states have begun to put forward plans to consolidate their emergency vaccineVaccine stockpiles and share the limited number of vaccines made by the single FDA-approved manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic. Many countries are concerned about how vaccinesVaccine will be shared. Some of the larger donor States are positioned to be the biggest beneficiaries of vaccine sharing, while States from areas that have been suffering from the virus since the 1970s have not been allocated any. This pattern of vaccineVaccine distribution echoes that seen during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the similarities between MonkeypoxMonkeypox and SmallpoxSmallpox, contact precautions and vaccination seem to be effective strategies to combat its rapid spread. We aim to evaluate how an eradication program modelEradication program model similar to that used for SmallpoxSmallpox can be applied to Monkeypox, and whether it can address vaccineVaccine inequityInequity. To do this, we use a multi-pronged approach targeting disease surveillanceDisease surveillance, vaccine awarenessVaccine awareness, manufacturing, cost, and distribution strategies.