Several civil society organizations on Monday appealed to national health authorities to allow the preventive use of part of the monkeypox virus vaccines in people most at risk of contracting the disease.
In a statement, 26 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) ask the “Ministry of Health, DGS [Direção-Geral da Saúde]and Infarmed [Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento e Produtos de Saúde] make the necessary decisions that allow the preventive use of part of the vaccines for people at higher risk, continuing to vaccinate contacts of positive cases in post-exposure.”
They argue, on the other hand, that “given the apparent shortage of vaccines, it is urgent to authorize and privilege intradermal administration which, according to the evidence that exists at this time, allows up to five people to be vaccinated with a single ampoule.” .
They add that intradermal vaccination has already been validated by the US Federal Agency, the European Medicines Agency and the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission.
On September 15, the DGS updated the standard on vaccination against monkeypox, but, according to these 26 NGOs, the update “only mentions the possibility of studying the intradermal use and preventive use of the vaccine, without committing to publication Of the review”. , according to the organizations, should have been done from the date of approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
It is necessary for these civil society organizations to make it clear that, despite the fact that it is a disease that has primarily impacted men, including gays, bisexuals and other men who have sex with men, the dynamics of transmission of the viruses “are not watertight and can change at any time.
“Monitoring the epidemiological situation allows us to understand the complexity of this new outbreak and the need to implement equitable vaccination standards and strategies, which were controlled with the help of a targeted preventive vaccination strategy,” they maintain.
The NGOs mention that there is a need for “clear and transparent” communication and action on the European situation in relation to problems with available vaccines and delivery schedules, as well as public communication and information, in Portugal and in Europe, to help “demand to increase the production of vaccines and put pressure on the pharmaceutical industry and the EU to guarantee that all needs are covered, in all countries and not only in the richest countries”.
“It seems to us that the position of Bavarian Nordic, the company that owns the vaccine patent, which does not make agreements with other companies with installed production capacity and asks for an exorbitant price for each vaccine, is not acceptable in a public health scenario. . crisis.”, they defend.
“We must, therefore, demand and join forces so that the national authorities exercise the necessary diplomacy with the European organizations, so that it is clear that public health cannot be held hostage by the logic of the market and the rationing based on geopolitical criteria that go beyond the central concern for human health. “, they add.
In the opinion of these 26 NGOs, the “way forward” is the one that has already been done in other countries and that goes through an “open door” vaccination regimen for the most affected people.
They point out that it is not only necessary to warn about situations of possible discrimination, but also to warn that “historical errors that still need to be corrected are not repeated”, recalling that “the public and private life of LGBTI+ people, but also of people with HIV and of migrants, continues to be highly scrutinized within the disastrous spectrum of prejudice”.
They also say that it is necessary to clarify the complaints of people who denounced the lack of care in accordance with international recommendations, not only in terms of prevention, but also treatment.
They also recall that the first cases appeared in Portugal in May of this year and that, at that time, it was necessary to denounce the discourses that associated sexual orientation with the spread of the disease.
According to the latest data, Portugal has registered at least 898 cases of Monkeypox since the beginning of the outbreak.
Source: TSF
