Ministry of Health in talks with PAHO to procure monkeypox vaccine

Minister of Health, Jorge Lopezreported that his sector was negotiating with Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for monkeypox vaccines; however, he clarified that the decision is also made by a committee of experts who will help determine whether they are needed or not.

“We have to keep in mind that we have a team, a committee of experts that is in charge of whether we need vaccines or not. In addition, we have a team, because the decision is not only on my part, we are also negotiating With PAHOwho is the sole person in charge of purchasing vaccines,” he said.

“It was determined which countries in South America would buy vaccines. At the moment we have three countries that want to buy vaccines. The minimum purchase must be 100,000 doses for PAHO can be bought,” he added in press statements.

Specifying that the capacity of the enterprise that produces the vaccine will not be enough for the expected demand in the country, the minister repeated that negotiations are underway with Pan American Health Organization determine how many more countries can join this mechanism and make a joint purchase.

It was on August 5 that a group of specialists from Ministry of Health care participated in a special session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Americas to initiate an assessment of access to a vaccine to help control monkeypox.

Jorge Lopez It is also reported that no monkeypox-positive patient has died in the country to date. It should be remembered that, according to recent reports Minsaconfirmed cases of this disease in Peru increased to 409, which corresponds to 10 regions of the country.

“The man who died in Hospital May 2 he had comorbidities, he refused the treatment he had. He arrives for another illness, and when they do tests, they realize that he also had monkeypox. He is dying not from monkeypox, but from other concomitant diseases that he had, ”he specified.

Vaccines should target risk groups

Percy Minayamedical epidemiologist and former Deputy Minister of Health, argued that the use of vaccines against monkeypox in Peru, whose acquisition is being evaluated Ministry of Health (Minsa)should be primarily intended to the high risk group.

“Essentially, the people who are currently most at risk of transmission from their exposure. men who have sex with other men (…), and then medical workers who may be highly susceptible to doing business, contact them,” he explained in a dialogue with RPP News.

In this sense, Minaya pointed out that in the current situation “mass vaccination is not recommended” but only in “priority groups”.

“Here we do not have a specific record, it is calculated it could be 1% of the population if we talk about men who have sex with men, then we do not need to enter the entire population. The first thing we must do is vaccinate a high-risk group transmission, and this requires clear identification of their contacts,” he said.

Minaya explained that vaccination “is one way more effective be able to control the virus” because “it not only prevents, but can stop the infectious process if it is at an early stage. However, he emphasized that the use of vaccines must go hand in hand with other strategies. prevention D control.

“The number of vaccines will be important, but also continuity of contact monitoring and control activitieshow we met him COVID-19because that’s where we can quickly monitor, before vaccines arrive, the possibility that it will continue to be transmitted,” he said.

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