STORY: Mpox kills 610 in DR Congo: health minister
SHOOTING TIME: Aug. 15/Aug. 27, 2024
DATELINE: Aug. 28, 2024
LENGTH: 00:00:52
LOCATION: Kinshasa
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE (French): ROGER KAMBA, DRC Health Minister (courtesy of the DRC Health Minister)
2. various of a local hospital treating mpox patients in the North Kivu province, eastern DRC (shot on Aug. 15, 2024)

STORYLINE:

The ongoing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has resulted in more than 17,801 suspected cases, including 610 deaths, DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba said Tuesday.

The minister urged the population to adhere to protective measures, especially with the school year approaching in early September, and to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

SOUNDBITE (French): ROGER KAMBA, DRC Health Minister
"The accumulation of suspected cases since the beginning of this year is 17,801 cases, with 610 deaths. Get vaccinated when the vaccines are available."

Suspected cases are being reported in conflict-affected provinces that host the majority of the country's 7.3 million internally displaced people. This creates risks of "worsening an already untenable situation for a population devastated by decades of conflict," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement released Tuesday.

On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to end human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated efforts at global, regional, and national levels.

"The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped", said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kinshasa.
(XHTV)